Life Without Luck
by SilverBlood5
Summary: One Monday morning, a class at Francois Dupont High School learned a valuable lesson when Chloe wished Marinette was never born. Shame they won't remember it. But one person does remember, and they're passing on the message. "Be careful what you wish for."
1. Prologue

It was a normal Monday with nothing exciting happening.

A class at Francois Dupont High School was following their normal routine. It was first period French Literature and Ms Bustier was listing the poems they would be learning that day. Alya looked around the classroom at the familiar sights; Kim was falling asleep at his desk while Max stealthily nudged him awake, causing the jock to jump up and raise attention to himself while his best friend feigned surprise at his movements. She snickered at their antics and looked to the back of the room. Juleka and Rose were both huddled over a phone, most likely watching some cute video, Nathanael was drawing but made sure to look up so as to avoid a repeat of the incident with Ms Mendeliev. Lila was in her new spot next to him pretending to do her work when she was actually watching him. From the awed looks and the way she moved her pencil, Alya guessed she was trying to draw like him. Ivan was doing his work but the quick glances in Mylene's direction did not escape Alya's inquisitive gaze. Judging from the blushing glances from both ends, Alya could only come to the conclusion that something had happened between the two recently and made a note to tease/interrogate them both later. In front of her, Nino was trying to sway Adrien's attention by texting him but the hard working student continued to ignore him, even turned off his phone to stop the slue of texts which caused Nino to glare at him. Alya could see the hint of a smile on Adrien's lips. Apparently Adrien had let slip some information that Nino wanted to know more about. They were next on her interrogation list. Sabrina was studiously doing her work while Chloe touched up her make up in a mirror, still sour about losing the design competition on Friday. You'd think she'd learn not to copy Marinette's work from what happened with the hat competition, but Chloe never learns, and not just because she gets her 'BFF' to do all her work.

Speaking of Marinette...

Alya looked to the spot next to her. The empty spot. Marinette was late again. Alya looked at the time. Judging from Marinette's average time of arrival, she should come running through the door in around three minutes.

* * *

Earlier that morning a thirteen year old girl was frantically digging through the trash. The tears running down her face were a sign of her distress. "Why did I do that, why did I do that, why did I do that." She kept muttering to herself. She could remember the conversation with her new group of friends the day before when they found the old worn teddy on her bed. When one of them asked if she really slept with a teddy she denied it so as not to seem like a baby.

Her and her family had just moved to Paris and it was very hard to make friends, so when the first people who were friendly towards her visited her house, she made sure to make a good impression. And she was sure that a teenager who still slept with her childhood teddy bear would make them laugh and destroy any chance she had at making friends. What she didn't realise was that her parents were listening and took her seriously when she told them she was going to throw it out but hadn't gotten around to it yet. She'd joined them for a sleepover and didn't take the teddy for obvious reasons. When she got back that night she was too tired to think about it, having spent the whole day with her new friends.

It was only in the morning when she began to look for it and realised it wasn't there. She asked her parents if they'd seen it and when they said they threw it out because she didn't want it anymore, her heart broke. All she wanted to do at that moment was to curl into a ball and start crying but her need for her childhood teddy propelled her to the trash to start digging. She was covered in grime and rubbish was caught in her hair and clothes but she didn't care, she just kept digging and cursing herself for being so stupid. She had had that teddy for her whole life, slept with it almost every night and held it every time she was upset. She remembered how upset she got when the red plaid bow fell off the teddy a few years back. With no knowledge on how to put it back on she put it on her chain and wore it on her neck everyday. It was a bright side in the end because no matter where she went she would always have a piece of her favourite childhood teddy with her. That bow hung on her neck and hit her chest with every move she made and turned purple when the dark butterfly she never saw, hit it.

"It's always hard to lose a memory you've had you're entire life, especially when your own carelessness is the reason." The silky voice in her mind compelled her to stop looking and listen, "I can give you the ability to show everyone else your pain. People say things they don't mean all the time, now you can show them the power their words hold. All I ask for in return are the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Genie rose to her feet with an evil smile, "You got it Hawkmoth, by the time I'm done _everyone_ will regret the things they say without thought for what it means."

* * *

The crackle of the PA announced a message from the principal, "Ms Bustier could you report to the office please."

Ms Bustier stood and looked to her class, "I'll only be gone for a few minutes, I trust you to behave but if I hear any complaints you all get extra homework." With that final threat the teacher left to see what the principal wanted.

Two minutes later Marinette ran into the room 37 seconds before her average. While she caught her breath both Max and Alya put down the new information in their respective devices. Most of the class smiled as the clumsy girl entered in her usual style. The morning wasn't complete until she came running in. Or falling, depending on the day. Chloe wasn't happy to see her at all and as usual, she made that known.

"Ugh, how can you get anything done when you're always late. Maybe that's why you're so careless with your appearance, you don't have enough time to look in the mirror." As Chloe laughed at her mean joke, Marinette looked up with a scowl. Then she straightened up, crossed her arms and gave the mayor's daughter an impassive look.

"Nope, I just don't like wearing so much make up it's the equivalent of what a _clown_ wears." that made Chloe stop laughing and stare at Marinette's smirk with incredulous shock.

"How _dare_ you," Chloe stood to meet the stare and the class watched, amused even as the air sizzled around the feuding pair, "How dare you talk to me like that, I'm the Mayor's daughter." She placed a hand on her chest and stuck her nose in the air to prove how important that statement made her.

Marinette's deadpan answer showed how little it affected her, "Nobody cares."

Some laughed at her answer but the air felt thick. They had a feeling this argument wasn't going to end well, and it wasn't because of Ms Bustier's threat of extra homework.

Chloe glared at the laughing few, "Maybe _you_ don't, but others do. They _adore_ me and are flattered that I allow my presence among them. Just because you don't appreciate my presence doesn't mean you should drag others down with you. Don't be so selfish and hog the light like that."

Her words struck a chord in the pigtailed girl, " _I'm_ selfish. You think _I'm_ selfish. Maybe _you_ should take a look in the mirror." If the air was thick before, it was suffocating now. It wasn't often Marinette started shouting, but when she did. Duck for cover. " _You're_ the one that hogs the light, always making everything about yourself, _never_ considering other people feelings to your actions, taking credit from other people's ideas. The only time you ever share or pass over the spotlight is when you're blaming someone else for something you shouldn't have done, usually it's your so called best friend." By now she'd taken a few steps forward and raised her voice. Chloe was a little scared of her enemy's outburst but would never admit it.

"Ugh, you're such a nuisance. There you go again, making a scene to draw attention to yourself and trying to make me look bad."

"You do that all by yourself. No help needed."

" _Excuse_ you, my life was _perfect_ before you started thinking you were better than me. You used to keep to yourself and not do a thing, it was _perfect_. And then you decided to enter all those competitions just to spite me and make me look like a fool."

"First of all, me entering those competitions has absolutely _nothing_ to do with you. And secondly if you don't want to look like an idiot try using your _own_ ideas and stop stealing mine for a change. Or if you're going to steal my ideas don't put my name on them. _Literally_."

Faced with her own idiotic mistakes, Chloe spluttered with anger and screamed the first thing that came to her head no matter how childish or mean it sounded, only wanting to get a rile out of the once quiet and obedient girl. "Urgh! I wish you had never been born!"

As soon as the words left her mouth there was a stream of purple and gold mist that came from behind the window. A form emerged from within. The mist didn't look like it was fading but more being absorbed into the form behind the veil. It seemed as if the person forming was _made_ from mist. When all the mist had gone the form became solid with pale skin and wavy black hair in a fancy half up do with a gold headpiece across her forehead and weaved through her hair in an intricate manner. She wore a puffy purple tube top with see through sleeves cinched at the wrists, embellished in gold designs. The matching hippy pants were baggy and purple with a gold belt, only tightened on the hips and ankles. Gold links hung from the purple bow in the centre of her chest and stretched down half her bare stomach before going back up around the back. She had gold markings on her bare skin that could only be seen in the right light, a gold belly piercing with a purple gem in the middle, gold nails with a purple pointer, gold flats with curled toes, gold bangles and anklets, gold lips and purple eyeshadow framed her golden eyes, a spiky purple domino mask with gold on the outside and around the eyes completed the look.

When she spoke it was like she 100 voices all talking at once, "I am Genie and I will grant your wish spoken in anger."

It was obvious from her outfit and misty appearance that this 'Genie' was an akuma. You could ask everyone in that room and each of them would tell you that they thought this was yet another poor soul who'd come across Chloe Bourgeois. But no one could have imagined what this new akuma _really_ wanted. Faced with the possibility of losing their Marinette for good, the class sprung into action. Rose, Nathanael, Mylene and Sabrina were too frightened to move, Max couldn't believe that something like that could be possible, but deep down he knew it was happening, and that frightened him to the point he couldn't move either. Ivan, Alya and Kim called out to her and started down the stairs, once they got over their shock Adrien and Nino did too and Alix jumped over the desks. The last thing Marinette saw before the flash of light engulfed her was Chloe's face, tight with fear, shock and most of all... regret. She took a step forward with her hand stretched out, trying desperately to reach the girl who she had just wished never existed.

Marinette smiled from that final image. She didn't have a chance of moving away, but at least she could still see Chloe finally understanding the weight words hold. Even if the price was her very existence. The blackness kept surrounding her until she could no longer see.

Over the frightened shouts of her name, Marinette heard Genie speak one last time, a final message for Chloe and everyone else in the room. "Be careful what you wish for."

The last sensation she ever felt was the touch of a hand on her arm.


	2. Chapter 1

**Wow! I wasn't expecting to update so soon, but I _really_ wasn't expecting such a huge response to the Prologue over just two days! I just couldn't help but update now. And as an answer to some reviews, I fully intend to continue this story (obviously since you're reading this new update) and I already have the next 4 chapters after this one written up. Enjoy chapter 1!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir in any way, shape or form.**

* * *

"Kimmy! Kimmy! Wake up, let's go!"

Kim woke on a shaking mattress and with squeals in his ear. He panicked at first but looked up to see it was only his little sister jumping on his bed. Again. Felicie was always a bubbly little character with more energy than an entire carton of energy drinks. That made her a bit of a handful, but she also made life interesting.

"Alright, alright. I'm awake." He grabbed the bouncing 5 year old mid-bounce and smiled at her giggles. It was the sort of sound that made waking up worthwhile, especially after the nightmare he'd just had. The glimmer behind those grey eyes they shared washed away all the fear.

"Daddy said to wake you up for breakfast."

"Alright I'm comi-"

"Great, let's go!" The girl may be a third of his age and size but she can be real strong when she wants to be. Maybe it had something to do with all the energy she had. That, combined with the shock of her fast movement and his still sleepy state, is why Kim ended up falling out of bed. Felicie continued to giggle at his shocked face and mock glare and pulled at his arm until he was on his feet again. Kim smiled as his little sister dragged him down the stairs with a strength someone her age shouldn't possess, but his mind was on his dream.

 _'It was just a nightmare. That's it.'_ That's what he told himself.

But he couldn't erase that image of Marinette's terrified face out of his mind.

* * *

Walking to school, Kim couldn't help but think something felt wrong. It was a perfectly normal day, just like any other. There was absolutely no reason for him to be this jittery. But he was.

"Dammit Kim, grow some balls, it was just a dream." He muttered to himself, "But it felt so real."

So caught up was he in his thoughts that he didn't see the statue in the park as he passed it.

* * *

Once he was at school, Kim saw that everyone was looking excitedly at their phones. He knew immediately that they were looking at the Ladyblog. There was an akuma the day before and Alya always got the best footage. Kim noticed a rather large group of girls huddling together and gushing about what they saw on screen. He recognised them as the Chat Noir fan group, the girls who proclaimed their love for the hero on an hourly basis. They always reminded him of how Chloe acted towards Adrien, however most of those girls were pretty decent and a lot more enjoyable company than the mayor's daughter, so maybe that was a bit insulting.

Just before he turned away, Kim noticed that the group looked a fair size bigger than it usually did. Maybe Chat did something extra heroic in the last attack and the girls loved it. It was usually Ladybug who received all the attention, which didn't seem right to Kim. He did just as much work as she did and deserved equal credit. Whatever happened, Kim was glad that Chat was getting more recognition, he'd have to check the Ladyblog to see what the cat did later.

Inside the classroom, that feeling of unease came back. The first thing he noticed was the atmosphere. As soon as he walked in, it felt like he was walking into a morgue, and looking at his classmates faces, it might as well have been. Just like outside almost everyone was on their phones checking the Ladyblog but the excitement they usually had wasn't there. It was like someone had sucked the life out of them. Everyone seemed more muted and reticent, even Chloe looked a little miffed at something. But she hid it well when she tripped Mylene who was just walking up the stairs and cackled insults left and right.

What was Chloe doing in Marinette's seat?

His first thought was that she was trying to take back the seat she wanted behind Adrien and was about to go up and tell the blonde off when he noticed Alya. She was sitting up the front in Sabrina's spot who'd vacated and taken _her_ spot next to Chloe. If he wasn't shocked at the fact that Alya wasn't telling off the mayor's daughter and her little servant, her sombre face sure knocked the drive right out of him. Alya was one of the most energetic, bubbly people he knew aside from his sister. To see her so morose and lonely, especially when her blog was a huge hit as always, made the unease increase ten-fold.

He walked over intent to ask what was wrong and decided to keep her company until Marinette arrived. As soon as he sat down Alya jumped up like he'd just electrocuted her and stared him down like a startled alley cat.

"Woah there," Kim put his hands in the air in a placating manner, hoping she wouldn't kick him in the groin and run like it looked like she wanted to. "I come in peace." He chuckled in an attempt to calm the air. In a way it did. Alya wasn't stiff and alert to his every move any more. She just looked confused and wary. Feeling more uncomfortable by the second, Kim forged on hoping to get some answers to her strange behaviour. "Sooo, uh... What's up?" She looked more confused and began to scrutinise him. Kim cringed. Was that really the best he could do?

"Sorry uh..." He chuckled nervously and scratched his temple in an attempt to avoid her gaze. "I guess I just feel a little off. What's up with everyone, and you, you don't look the best. Is something wrong?"

Alya gave him another questioning glance before deciding not answering would be rude. "I'm fine I guess. Why are you asking?"

He didn't like the cautious way she spoke, it made him feel even more uncomfortable, "Well... 'cause you looked real sad."

Alya blinked as if she just realised something. She opened and closed her mouth for a few moments, trying to find the words. Kim felt extremely uncomfortable and was getting ready to exit the conversation when he saw how glassy her eyes had gotten. His eyes widened as her bottom lip started to tremble.

"I'm sorry!" Kim reached out for her and started to flail, in the end choosing to place his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you cry I just wanted to know why you looked so sad." She turned to stare at nothing and Kim felt his heartbeat increase at the silent tear that fell down her cheek. "I'm sorry, i-it was none of my business. I just thought it was weird that you weren't sitting in your seat and you looked so sad so I thought you could use some company but I am _really_ bad company, ugh, I'm no good at this stu-" He was cut off by the sound of a small chuckle. He looked at Alya and saw it was coming from her. It was weak, but it was still there, and it calmed Kim down a little.

Alya wiped her eyes and gave a small sniffle, "Sorry It's just... I've never heard you so incoherent before. It's kinda funny." Kim smiled, glad he got a laugh, however small, out of her. "The truth is I don't know why I'm so sad. I got outta bed and didn't feel great. You know when you get that feeling like it's gonna be a bad day? And when you brought up how sad I looked I... I don't-I just... I started to cry." She sniffled again and shook her head, "That sounds weird. I don't get it."

Kim shook his head, "No, I get it. I woke up with this real uneasy feeling but I thought it was just the nightmare I had. But it looks like we're not the only ones. Everyone looks like they just came back from a funeral. I mean look at Adrien."

The model had just walked into the room a lot later than he usually did and he looked worse than everyone else. His hair was a mess, his eyes droopy and his entire posture was slack. He took his seat next to Nino and slumped over his desk, his best friend looked concerned but decided to leave him. What surprised Kim and Alya more was the fact that Chloe didn't jump up and greet him with her usual high-pitched 'Adrikins'.

"Okay. That proves it. Something's up." Alya concluded. Kim hummed in agreement and thought of something.

"Hey. What if it's an akuma?"

Alya pursed her lips, "Maybe. There was an akuma yesterday but we know that's possible with the whole Vanisher and Antibug scenario."

"It's the only thing that makes sense."

Alya nodded, deep in thought. She looked up at him when she thought of something, "What did you mean earlier when you said I wasn't in my seat?"

Kim met her confused face with one of his own, but before he could answer someone spoke to him.

"Kim. I didn't know you swapped seats." He looked to see his teacher giving him a slightly amused look. He couldn't help but notice even Ms Bustier looked less cheerful than she usually did.

"Sorry, Miss. Just talking to Alya." She rose an eyebrow as he took his seat next to Max.

She shook her head and began to address the class. Kim waited until she called his name for the role and turned to Max. Even his best friend looked sombre as he did his work. The jock shifted in his seat, even his chair didn't feel right. He put his hands on the wood beside his legs and started at the feeling. He was so caught up in everything else he didn't realise the cushion he was so used to wasn't on his seat.

After she became class president, Marinette worked to get everyone's wishes realised. Including Rose's wish for comfy cushions on their hard wooden seats. When she got the okay everyone was so happy they cheered as loud as they could. Once everyone had quieted down she told them they could pick their own colours which started everyone shouting out their favourite colours. He remembered Marinette laughing as she tried to write them down but couldn't understand who said what colour. Her laugh made him smile. It was like his sister's, full of life and happiness. Just one of those sounds that made you want to laugh along too.

He chose red for his cushion and he, like everyone else, loved them. But those comfy cushions weren't there anymore. _'Probably getting washed or something.'_ He mused. He put the thought away and focused on his classmates.

Behind him, Rose and Juleka were conversing quietly. Usually they were giggling at some video they were watching but the space behind him was quieter than he was used to. Across from them, Nathanael was drawing as usual but his movements were lazy and his face was blank while Lila looked just as uncomfortable as he felt. She didn't seem to be as sad as everyone else but something was clearly bothering her too. Ivan was frowning more than usual and kept glancing at Mylene who had her head down. Kim thought he could see her shoulders shaking a little and hear something that sounded too much like muffled sobs. Although he had a feeling that was more to do with what Chloe had said to her earlier when she tripped her than whatever was happening to their classmates. Alix was patting her back and trying to calm her but even she couldn't muster a smile. Chloe was pulling at her ponytail and it really showed her distress that her hair was in disarray and she didn't seem to care. Sabrina was more pale than usual and shockingly not doing her work. She kept trying to write in her book but her eyes strayed to Chloe with a worry and confusion that hindered the sadness in her eyes. Adrien was also trying to do his work but it wasn't working for him either. Nino was texting him and it shocked Kim when Adrien actually texted back. Alya was on her phone, no doubt looking to see if there was any sign of an akuma on the loose again. But he could see how jerky her moves were. She was obviously trying to find something to distract herself with.

Resigning himself to having to wait for answers, Kim continued to do his work with a sense of deja vu. Hadn't they already done these poems? They sure sounded familiar.

The crackle of the PA announced a message from the principal, "Ms Bustier, could you report to the office please."

Ms Bustier stood and looked to her class, "I'll only be gone for a few minutes, I trust you to behave but if I hear any complaints you all get extra homework." With that final threat the teacher left to see what the principal wanted.

A sharp intake of air and a snapping sound was heard immediately after that message. Kim paid no mind to the multiple stares in his direction, they would just think he was fearful of extra homework anyway.

Those words.

That's exactly what the Principal and Ms Bustier had said in his dream. Right before Marinette ran in and had that argument with Chloe that caused the akuma to appear and wipe Marinette from existence. Kim suddenly felt as if he just ran a marathon. His heart was pounding and his breaths were coming in short harsh rasps. The only thing he could see was Marinette's face, tight with fear as the mist surrounded her.

 _'It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream, IT WAS JUST A DREAM.'_

It may have been a dream but it was still happening. It was real. Maybe that was why he'd been so off today and why the dream had felt so real. It _was_ real! He'd dreamt the future! But, wait. If it was the future then everything around him should be the same as in his dream. But everyone was upset and dull instead of cheerfully getting along like they had in the dream. And Chloe, Sabrina and Alya had swapped seats. What's next, Marinette being early for school?

Marinette!

In the dream, Genie made sure Marinette was never born!

He could make sure that didn't happen!

Kim checked the front of the room to see if she'd arrived yet.

Nope.

No Marinette.

There was still time!

If he could stop the argument, he could stop Chloe making the wish that Genie granted. He would have to try extra hard though. Chloe looked ready to rip every single strand of hair out from the top of her head. That could be really bad for Marinette. He still didn't know why everyone was so upset. Maybe someone else had wished for everyone to abandon their happiness and be sooks for the morning or something. If it was different from his dream than maybe he had already changed something unknowingly? Maybe on the way to school with him thinking about his dream he missed something?

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Kim focused on his mission. Saving Marinette had become top priority.

He'd been sitting next to Max so he knew all about Marinette's late times. Looking to his watch he knew she'd turn up in one minute and twenty-two seconds. Suddenly his friend's habit of recording the data for every little thing that happened didn't seem so silly anymore.

Kim had completely abandoned his work and was instead counting down the seconds to the pig-tailed designers arrival. He played with the broken pieces of his pencil in an attempt to pass time. All he could think about was what life would be like without Marinette. And it didn't look pretty. He imagined it would be a lot like how the class was that morning. Kim had more heart than people realised and he knew he wouldn't be able to take that sort of sad and lonely behaviour from his classmates for the rest of his schooling years.

When there was one second left on the clock, Kim looked up expecting to see his classmate run through the door in her usual clumsy, always-in-a-hurry manner.

She wasn't there.

With a frown, the teen looked at his watch. He was sure his brainy best friend didn't get his calculations wrong, so maybe it was just that he didn't hear right?

But it felt like the right time.

Kim watched the door, waiting for it to open with a bang that would stop and restart his heart.

He watched until the seconds turned into minutes.

When the teacher entered the door and took her seat at her desk, Kim refused to acknowledge the pain burning behind his eyes.

He kept staring at the door for the next minute.

And the minute after that.

And the minute after that.

He kept staring as the minutes piled up.

The next time the door opened it was from the inside, to let the other students out.

By the time everyone had walked out the door to their next class, Kim had realised why there weren't any cushions.

Alone in the classroom, the normally unshakeable teen finally let the pain through his eyes and run down his cheeks.

"Marinette?"

* * *

 **P.S. I remembered how to do line breaks! Isn't that cool!**


	3. Chapter 2

"Have you seen Alya?" Kim frantically asked Nino at lunch. He figured that if anyone knew where she was it would be him.

"Nah man, sorry." He shrugged but looked a little worried at his tone. "Is something wrong?"

Kim couldn't answer that yet so he left without a word. He walked all around the school lunch area in search of the blogger. He needed to find her so she could tell him he was wrong. That Marinette was just sick. That the whole thing with the dream was an absolute fluke. A coincidence. At this point he wouldn't care if she laughed in his face for it. He just needed to be proved wrong.

"Where could she be?" Kim was freaking out with each second he couldn't find Alya. He didn't care if people were beginning to look at him funny. He didn't care when they outright stopped and stared when he started calling out in the courtyard.

"Alya! Alya, where are you?" She wasn't in her and Marinette's usual spot on the bench near the tree in the corner. She wasn't with Nino. She wasn't anywhere! "ALYA! AALLYAAA-!"

"Kim?" The calm, confused voice of the one he was searching for nearly brought another wave of tears to his eyes. Alya was standing just inside the circle that had formed around him when he started to shout. Not liking having a crowd see his breakdown, he grabbed her arm and dragged her away, ignoring her protests. Despite the situation he still had _some_ pride. "Kim? What's going on? Kim? Where are we-"

He shushed her and kept moving. They didn't stop until they were outside they school grounds and completely alone.

"Okay _now_ will you tell me wha-"

"Where's Marinette?" She looked at him, confused for his change in subject. Before she could speak, Kim interrupted her again. "Please Alya. _Please_ tell me you know who Marinette is."

Alya was reluctant to give him her answer because of the wild, desperate look in his eyes. But she had a feeling that if she didn't answer him soon he would start shaking her for answers. So she hesitantly shook her head, wary of what ever reaction would surface.

When Alya shook her head, Kim felt that small flicker of hope drain from his body, taking his strength with it. He collapsed to his knees and stared at Alya's jean-clad legs. He couldn't think of anything else to do.

Alya had very similar thoughts. She hadn't interacted with Kim all that much and had no idea how to deal with this new turn of events. She was actually looking for him before she heard him shouting her name. She just wanted to say that she didn't feel so sad anymore, like the feeling was fading. But it also felt draining. She couldn't understand it so she began to search for the one person who'd know what she was talking about. He wasn't in second or third period and she couldn't find him at lunch. But she didn't expect him to seek her out too.

Focusing on the problem at hand, she knelt in front of him and spoke gently. She didn't have a clue what was going on but it was clearly affecting Kim and she didn't want to make it worse. "Kim... What's wrong? If you told me then maybe I could help you."

Kim didn't say anything for a while. He stared at nothing and Alya was starting to wonder if he'd even heard her. He was silent for so long that when he _did_ start to talk again it startled her. "She's gone."

His quiet voice didn't sit right with Alya. She was used to the noisy and rowdy jock who made dares and challenges at every chance he got. "Who's gone? Is it Marinette?" She added when she remembered what led to this scenario. When he slowly nodded in a way reminiscent of her earlier negative, Alya forged on. "Who's Marinette?" Instead of getting answers, this time all the girl got was a flinch.

While Alya tried to piece together what she should say next, Kim stood up and walked off. Like the curious girl she was, Alya followed. "Where are we going?" She chirped, trying to keep the atmosphere positive.

"Marinette's house. I need to see for myself." He charged on before he could lose the guts while Alya looked forward to getting some answers. She didn't expect them to stop at a bakery first.

"Bit peckish are we?" She joked.

"Marinette's parents own this bakery." He said shortly.

"Oookay." The woman at the counter was short and clearly oriental with her facial features and dress. She had short black hair with a blue tinge and sparkling grey eyes. Alya had been to this bakery before since it was so close to the school and she had never seen the woman without a smile, however it was strained on this visit.

"Hello, how may I help you children." She asked in a polite manner beyond simple customer service.

Alya smiled and began to reciprocate the kindness but was interrupted by Kim who was starting to lose his cool again. "Where's Marinette, please tell me she's just sick or something."

Something akin to pain flashed in the woman's eyes and when she spoke her voice wavered a bit. "I'm sorry I don't know a Marinette."

"Yes you do, she's your daughter." Alya started to worry when Kim began to shake and the woman's reaction was no better. She looked like Kim had just punched her in the gut.

"I don't know who put you up to this but it's not funny." She sounded like she was about to cry.

That knocked Kim back a peg, "What do you mean?"

"I don't have a daughter, never have, never will." She sniffled, "I'm barren."

Kim took a step back. You would think _he_ was the wannabe parent who just got news he couldn't have a kid with how pale and sick he looked. He shook his head slowly, like he was having trouble believing it. "I-I'm sorry." With nothing else to say he walked out the door.

Alya looked at the weeping woman and was glad that Kim realised he was pushing her and left. "I'm sorry about my..." What? What was Kim to her? Someone who'd barely talked to her before that morning and was suddenly caring of her wellbeing and asking her all sorts of questions? "friend..?" Not that. "He hasn't been himself lately. I'm a little worried about him. He's not usually like that." Not that Alya would know what he was like. "Again I'm really sorry about him but I need to find him now." As she turned to leave with plans to tear Kim a new one for his comments to this poor, kind woman, she spoke up.

"Marinette is what we would have named our daughter." She must've looked confused because the woman elaborated. "Before my husband and I found out I couldn't have kids we talked about names. We both wanted a daughter and we loved the name Marinette so that was our main plan." She wiped her eyes, "How did he know that?" She directed the question at Alya who had fallen silent.

"I don't know." The teen turned to the woman who, for once, wasn't smiling. "But I intend to find out." For the woman who deserved that daughter named Marinette. And for her own curiosity.

Outside the bakery Alya looked for Kim, and like a missile honing in on a target, she followed the clack of something hitting the ground with the speed of a cheetah. Around the side of the bakery was a green door opening into the building surrounded by flowering pots. And Kim was right in front of it with a key. Alya stomped up to him, intent to ask him how he knew about Marinette but when she saw the key the words that came out were; "Where did you get that?"

Kim pointed to a ceramic pot on the ground that had some colourful flowers in it Alya thought she knew the name of. "Marinette showed me where they hid the spare key when I came over to work on a project with her."

Reminded about her mission, she ploughed on. "There is no Marinette, she was never born."

The door opened with a click but Kim made no move to go through it."...I know." He walked in.

Shocked at his statement, it took Alya a while to process his actions, "Hey! Get back here. You can't go in there, that's breaking and entering."

The bastard didn't even turn around to give his answer, "Not if I have a key." He held the offending object over his shoulder so she could see.

Damn her curiosity. She knew it was wrong, but she followed him. _'Just to make sure he doesn't cause any trouble.'_ She told herself. Was it wrong that she didn't believe herself? Alya looked around at the homey furniture and framed pictures and realised they were in the living space.

"You can't come in here, this isn't your home." She hissed.

"It's not your home either. But look." He led her into a kitchen area and up a set of stairs that led to the attic, all the while oblivious to the tongue she was showing to the back of his head.

On the way to the stairs, Alya looked at the framed photos on the wall. They were all of the woman from earlier and a large man who was at least three times her size. Despite his size, Alya could tell he was a gentle soul. He was smiling in every picture, his olive green eyes twinkling and his brown moustache lifting with his lips. _'This must be her husband.'_ She thought. _'They look so happy and kind. Why is it that this loving couple can't have the family they want and deserve when people who don't deserve kids have them everyday? It's just not fair.'_ She wondered why they never adopted. _'Maybe after learning they couldn't have kids of their own it was too painful to do it.'_

The sound of creaky hinges tore her from her musings and placed her back into reality. Which was breaking into someone's home with a guy she barely knew.

What the hell was wrong with her!?

"Kim this is far enough, look at all these pictures, they clearly don't have a daughter." Realising she'd been side-tracked from the most important question yet again, Alya pulled the words out of her mouth before she could lose them again. "So how did you know this couple wanted to name their daughter Marinette?"

"I didn't." His answer was simple, yet it infuriated her with how truthfully he said it. Like it was a fact.

"You obviously did. You've been spouting the name all day and you said to that woman her daughter was named Marinette. After you left she told me that before her and her husband knew she was barren, they planned on having a daughter named Marinette. How did you know that was her name?" The hatch in the roof led to what looked like a storage room with dusty boxes and furniture.

"It really does look like an attic now." Kim chuckled weakly.

"Isn't that what it is?" Alya asked confused, she thought it _was_ the attic. What else could it be?

Kim walked to a stack of boxes in the far left corner and moved them over to reveal the entrance to a set of stairs which he walked up. "A bedroom." He said when he stopped at the top. Alya looked at what he was staring at. Sure enough, below them was a mattress with dusty sheets.

"How did you know that was there?" She asked him.

"This was where she slept."

"She? You mean Marinette?" Kim nodded. "But she didn't exist."

"She did." His voice had gone soft again. And at a glance she saw his face had too. "Until the akuma-" Alya found it hard to believe she was watching Kim Chien Le getting all choked up like he was.

"What do you mean? What akuma?" Alya was beginning to realise that there might be some truth to Kim's 'Marinette story' and it probably had something to do with why everyone was so sad.

He took a deep breath, and Alya knew he was remembering something he didn't want to. "She called herself Genie. This akuma granted wishes that people didn't mean or something. I remember before I blacked out, the last thing she said; 'Be careful what you wish for.'"

Alya shuddered involuntarily. "So... Someone wished Marinette never existed."

Anger flashed in Kim's grey eyes. "Chloe." He spoke through gritted teeth and somehow Alya believed every word he said. "Her and Marinette _never_ got along. She was one of the few people I'd ever seen who could stand up to Chloe's bullying, and Chloe _hated_ that." He chuckled at some memory and it made a small smile appear on Alya's face. "Marinette was a skilled designer, had some of the best work I've ever seen. It was her dream to be a renowned fashion designer like her idol Gabriel Agreste. He had several competitions and Marinette entered all of them. Won them too. Every one of them." His smile got wider and it had the same effect on Alya's. She was loving this girl already. "She was so good she got lots of praise from Mr Agreste himself _and_ his son."

"Chloe would have hated that." Alya chuckled.

"She did." Outright laughter at some other memory. Alya wanted to meet this girl. "She hated it so much she started stealing Marinette's ideas and portraying them as her own. But she made a _huge_ mistake."

"What was that?"

"She copied Marinette's work perfectly. Including the signature she put on the design." Kim laughed at the memory of Chloe's shocked face when she realised what was on the hat _and_ the belt. "She did it twice too. You'd think she'd learn from her mistakes but I guess not."

"Oh man," Alya chuckled, "I wish I was there fo-" A hand over her mouth stopped her from finishing the sentence.

She looked into Kim's now serious eyes, "Don't wish. Don't make a wish. You never know what Genie'll do."

He waited for Alya to nod before he took his hand away. After a moment he spoke again, "And you _were_ there." Once again she must have looked confused, because he explained, "When it happened, you were with Marinette." Alya was too absorbed in her thoughts to answer. Thinking that she may already know the girl she only recently wanted to meet.

"But that whole thing just gave Chloe more reason to hate Marinette." He continued without prompt, "This morning they got into an argument and, as usual, Marinette was winning. But Chloe was still upset about the latest competition and how much Marinette was making her look like an idiot and she made a wish she shouldn't have. She wished Marinette was never born."

Alya gasped. "Wait. This happened this morning?"

Kim shrugged, "I guess so. I mean at first I thought it was just a bad dream and I woke up. But then the same things started happening and I realised we were living the same morning, just... Without Marinette in our lives." He thought for a moment. "Maybe that's why everyone's so sad. They don't remember her but they still feel her loss. That must be why you started crying this morning."

"I suppose that could make sense. But why would I cry and no one else." Kim was avoiding her gaze. "Kim? What aren't you telling me?" When he didn't answer her she got frustrated. "Kim!"

He flinched at her tone. He was a little reluctant to tell her in case it might upset her further but he'd been on the receiving end of Alya's temper before. And he didn't want that again so he took another deep breath and hesitantly met her eyes. She could see the sadness in them. "Because she was your best friend Alya."

The only answer Alya could give was a sharp intake of breath. She stepped back and leaned against the railing of the stairs. "No..." She shook her head, "That's not... how could that be I... I don't..."

Kim was curious now. This was a bigger reaction than he had expected. "You don't what?"

Alya stared him straight in the eye, "I don't have a friend... I never have."

To say Kim was shocked at Alya's confession was an understatement. He knew she found it hard to trust and make friends. But he thought that her energetic, interesting, passionate, loyal and cheeky personality would win her over with lots of people. It did with most of their classmates. She kept Marinette as her closest friend, but Alya still made time for all her other classmates and was on good terms with almost everyone.

"Well you did. Marinette was your best friend. But even without her you still have everyone else?" It came out as a question because they way she said she didn't have a friend made it sound like she didn't have the rest of the class too.

Now it was her turn to look confused, "What do you mean everyone else?"

"I mean the rest of the class-well... Most of it anyway." She still looked lost, "You and Nino are real tight, you get along well with Adrien, you and Max could talk about your computers all day, you and Alix always team up against me and I know Mylene loved taking those pictures with you for that art project because she wanted to ask you to do it again but was too shy."

Alya blinked at that and shook her head, "I've never had a friend before."

"B-but how is that possible. Even without your best friend you should still have all your other friendships." Kim just didn't get it. But Alya did.

"I've never liked messing with the system. Everyone's got their group of friends and I didn't want to interrupt that."

Kim thought about it and remembered something about Marinette. "Mari was like that too. I mean... She didn't want to be nuisance to people, felt like it was best to just stay out of they way. I guess that's why you became friends. Neither of you really had close friends to begin with so you were stuck together" He chuckled at the thought and continued, mostly to himself. "And after you became friends you wiggled your way into everyone's group and made friends with everybody. Even became the class president and deputy. Everyone loved you... Because you did it together."

Alya felt the tears well in her eyes for the loss of an amazing girl she couldn't remember. "I had a friend?" She still couldn't believe it, "I had a _best_ friend?"

"Oh yeah." Alya looked at Kim's melancholy smile, "Before you came along Mari was always shy. But everyone still loved her. She was kind, clumsy and really funny whether she tried to be or not. When you two became friends her confidence did a complete turn-around. She started standing up to Chloe, who had made Marinette her main target. Becoming more involved in school activities. Started talking to people more. Even running for class president with you as her deputy."

"We did?" Kim nodded. "How did we do?"

"You got every single vote in the class aside from Chloe. Even Sabrina voted for you." They shared a laugh at the thought of it. "You were amazing. Making everything better for everyone. You actually did the impossible." Alya raised a questioning eyebrow and Kim's wary smile, ignoring the tears pouring out of her eyes. "You made school fun." That raised both eyebrows. "I'm serious. Everyone in the class was laughing almost all the time and I actually looked forward to getting to school."

"That _is_ the impossible." Alya laughed and Kim joined in.

After a few moments their laughter died out. Both remembering that morning. How it was the complete opposite of what Kim had just described.

"Marinette must have been amazing. If she could cause that big of an impact on everyone."

Kim turned to look at the rest of the room. Once covered in pink and fabric as well as an entire collage of Adrien, now it was grey and dull. Like life without Marinette. "It's true what they say... You never know what you have until it's gone."

* * *

 **Not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out. Something about it just didn't seem realistic. But I did my best and I hope it is enjoyed as much as the first two. Happy holidays for those in school :P**


	4. Chapter 3

**Short chapter this time but this one's mostly just a filler. Things start to pick up in the next chapter where your questions about the heroes of Paris will be answered (sorta). Happy Easter everyone! :)**

* * *

They left the room shortly after that in case they were caught. Even if Alya couldn't remember the girl, it still caused a pain in her heart to see the dusty boxes and dirty cream walls. She had no idea how it affected Kim since according to him he wasn't as close to Marinette as she apparently was. But he could still remember.

They left to go back to school and on the walk, they talked.

"Why don't we just wish for Marinette to come back?" Alya proposed.

Kim didn't look so sure. "I don't know. The akuma wants to make people regret their wishes. If we wished for Marinette back we might just make it worse."

"How?"

"I don't know. But I don't really want to find out."

Neither did Alya. "Then we just wait for the akuma to be dealt with?" Alya growled at the idea, "We can't just do nothing! She's our friend, we gotta do something!"

"What can we do? We're not heroes Alya."

"Maybe not but we know stuff they don't. I mean you've already met the akuma. And there hasn't been any sign of this Genie yet."

"I want to do something Alya. I really do, but how? We can't do anything."

"What about the object? You saw the akuma, do you know where it is?"

"Sorry I didn't, I guess I was just a little preoccupied with the fact that _Marinette was going to be wiped from existence._ "

"Okay there's no need to get snippy with me I'm just trying to help." Alya huffed. She was getting nowhere! Wait. "Wait. Why are you the only one that remembers?" They both stopped. "Think back Kim. This might help. What else happened before you blacked out."

Kim thought. "After the akuma said she was going to grant Chloe's wish everyone started to panic. A few of us ran to her. To try to pull her out of the way."

"Really?"

"Why do you look so shocked. She was our friend and she was in trouble. Even you ran towards her."

"I did?" _'Well,'_ thought Alya _'from what I hear we were close. Of course I'd want to protect my friend.'_ The word still sent a tingle of warmth to her heart.

"Yeah. And Ivan, he was always protective of Marinette after she helped him get together with Mylene."

"She did?"

"Stop interrupting."

"Sorry."

"Nino and Adrien got out of their seats just after you did so you crashed into them and Ivan crashed into you."

"But I sit across from them." While Kim scowled at Alya's interruption _again_ Alya remembered something he'd said earlier. "When you said I wasn't sitting in my seat! I used to sit where Chloe and Sabrina are didn't I?"

"Yes. You did. Can I continue?"

"Sorry." Alya cringed. This was also why she didn't have friends. People thought she was annoying and over the top. But it was just the curious reporter in her. "Couldn't help it."

Kim smiled, amused. Was this really the girl who looked at him like she was a deer and he a hungry lion this morning? "Anyway. You guys crashed, Alix jumped over the desk but had to stop when Sabrina stood up. I guess she didn't want to sit by and do nothing either but it made _them_ crash too. Chloe was standing in front of Mari but by the time she moved forward she couldn't do much else but reach out her hand. I've never seen Chloe so scared before. It looked like she really regretted saying what she did. At least she understood she went too far that time. I ran to Marinette and there was no one in my way. I was the only one that got to her." He looked at Alya. "That's gotta be it! I reached her. I grabbed her arm. Maybe me having that contact with her when she was being erased meant I could remember."

"That makes sense. But it doesn't really help us." Alya frowned. "At least we know a loophole in case something like that happens again. And with you remembering we have an advantage. We know we can't make wishes so that'll keep us safe. And if anyone makes a wish on us we just need to stay in contact to remember anything."

"Yeah but how will we know if anyone makes a wish on us. We can't listen to everything everyone we know says. And holding hands for the whole thing is just overkill."

Alya blushed, "No one said we'd be holding hands."

"You get the point."

"Well it won't hurt to stay close by. And we can use the time to try and think of something to help."

"Like what?"

Alya huffed. She was getting really annoyed with this boy's pessimistic behaviour. "It doesn't matter if we don't know how we can help, just trying something, anything is enough. What would Marinette have done?"

Alya didn't really know what Marinette would have done, but she knew enough about the girl to take a good guess. Kim was silent as he looked at the ground. And when he looked up again Alya could see the determination in his eyes. Kim remembered everything Marinette had done for him. She mended his shirt when he tore a hole in it from wrestling with Ivan. Even when she was cheering for Alix in that speed competition, she made sure to cheer him on. She made him that sweet hoodie for his birthday. She encouraged him to give Chloe that gift on Valentine's Day. Even if it didn't end well it was the thought that counted. After he became an akuma he got some teasing and a fair amount of bullying from Chloe for the whole thing but Mari was always there to lift his spirits. And most importantly, she helped his sister when she took a tumble outside their house from the bike she was trying to learn to ride in secret. She was one of the few people who knew about his sister and how much of a softie he was for her. Marinette never teased him for it like he knew other people would and she made a habit to visit Felicie to play tea party and dollhouse all the time.

"Marinette would have fought to get anybody back. Even a stranger. She wouldn't stop until they were back safe and sound." His top priority was still Marinette. He owed her so much. It was time he started giving back. He didn't care what he had to do, he was getting Marinette back. He stared Alya straight in the eye. "We're going to save Marinette. Whatever it takes."

Alya blinked at the sudden turnaround and it turned into a grin. This Marinette was really something. She couldn't wait to meet her.

* * *

Walking back into class, Alya saw Chloe for the first time since she'd learned the truth. Chloe was the reason for this whole thing. She wished that her best friend was never born and even if Alya couldn't remember her she still felt the pain in her heart at losing the girl. Kim must have sensed the violence waiting to break out because he dragged Alya to her seat.

"Maybe we should sit together. To keep close for safety like you said and keep brainstorming." _'And so I can make sure you don't do something_ you'll _regret.'_ Is what his eyes said.

"How can you let her go like that? She's the reason Marinette's not here?" Alya hissed, refusing to tear her eyes away from the heiress.

"Because I was _there_. I saw they way she looked at Marinette when she made the wish. She was angry and didn't mean it that's why Genie granted her wish. I know she regretted it in that last moment." He reasoned, forcing her into her seat and sitting down to block the way out.

"Yeah well the Genie needs to rethink her punishment methods. How can Chloe regret her wish when she doesn't even remember making it?" She moved her glare to him.

Kim stumbled for a moment. He didn't know what to say to that. "Yeah. You're right. It's not fair - but look at her," They both looked in her direction. While the rest of the class had calmed somewhat from the Genie's changes, Chloe looked worse. She must have pulled at her hair enough to get annoyed with having to put it back up because now it just hung around her face. She did still have some care for her appearance judging from the brushed locks but she was still pale and staring at nothing.

"She may not remember but she still feels the regret for what she did. And you wanna know the real reason I'm willing to forgive her?" Alya waited for him to continue. She didn't know how he could forgive her so easily. This was the worst thing she had done yet! And that's saying something with the amount of horrible things the blonde had already done. "Because _Marinette_ forgave her." The blogger turned her head so fast, Kim nearly got whipped with her hair.

"What?" She couldn't believe that anyone would forgive the person who wished they were never born. Especially if it came true! "Yeah right. You think I'm that dumb? Marinette disappeared after the wish was made. There wasn't even any time to say she forgave her."

Kim shook his head. "She didn't say it. She smiled."

Alya blinked, "Huh?"

"Before she disappeared Marinette looked at Chloe. She saw how much she already regretted it and she was just glad Chloe realised she went too far. Right before she closed her eyes I saw her smile at Chloe. The kind of smile you give someone when you forgive them." An image of those bright blue eyes closing for the last time ran through his mind and he had to force it away before it took over. He already had one breakdown in school, he didn't need another.

Alya was quiet for a long time after that and Kim thought the conversation was over. When the teacher started the class with no more comment on Kim's seating arrangements, Alya spoke. She was so quiet, Kim figured she was just talking to herself. "Why would Chloe ever want to wish someone that amazing gone?" He didn't have an answer. And if he saw the tear that tracked down her cheek... He didn't say anything.


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's been a while but I had a hectic couple of weeks. Also, exams are coming up for me so I might not update weekly until they're over. I want to say thank you to everyone who read, favourited, followed and reviewed this story of mine. I honestly never thought I'd get _100 followers in just 4 chapters!_ That is incredible, so thank you. :)**

 **So here you go. My longest chapter yet and the one where you'll finally get your answers on the heroes' status.**

 **This story is disclaimed.**

* * *

In the end, they managed to get through the whole school day without doing something drastic.

People kept sending them odd looks after they sat together and Kim cringed at the memory of the little outburst he had earlier. At the time he didn't care what everyone else thought and only wanted to make sense of the situation. Now he was paying for that with questioning stares and murmured whispers. Knowing how gossip travelled, he wouldn't be surprised if they thought he and Alya were dating by the end of the day.

Which wouldn't happen. Alya was his friend and she had a boyfriend. Or did she? She said she didn't have any friends so that _would_ include boyfriends. And Nino was best friends with Adrien meaning they had their own little group already and she wouldn't want to interfere with that. So that would mean her and Nino weren't dating! Kim made a note to ask her about that later. Maybe. Considering how she reacted when she found out she had a best friend she didn't remember, Kim had no idea how Alya would react to having a _boyfriend_ she couldn't remember.

He saw Max giving him confused looks as well but after a little chat with Nino he seemed to accept his spending more time with Alya. Kim didn't like leaving his friend out of it but Nino had already gathered something was wrong and must've passed the information on. He only hoped Nino would pass that message around to everyone else to get rid of the possible 'dating' theory.

After school Kim considered going back to the bakery and apologizing to Sabine (as she insisted he call her on his visits to the shop and their home) but Alya pointed out he had no idea how to explain how he knew about Marinette without causing her more pain. So they got food at a nearby cafe and went to the park to eat. After they took a seat at a bench under the trees, a little girl in purple overalls came up to them.

"Hi Kimmy." She chirped.

Kim didn't answer straight away. He looked at the limp brown hair on the little girl's head with sadness. "Hey Manon. How are you?"

Manon frowned at the ground. "Not good. Mummy got me a new babysitter and _she sucks._ "

At the word babysitter Kim felt as if the air had been knocked out of his lungs. "D-don't you worry little angel. I'm sure you'll find a babysitter who you'll love. There's someone out there who'll love to babysit you as much as you love them babysitting you." He promised the little girl.

Manon looked at him in the way only a curious child could. "You've never called me that before."

"Called you what?"

"Little angel."

Kim gulped. "W-well there's a first time for everything." Alya looked concernedly at Kim. Why would talking to this child make him so sad?

Manon nodded, accepting the answer. "I like it!" She smiled.

"Yeah. You do." Kim whispered.

Manon seemed to realise there was something wrong and tilted her head. "Are you feeling okay?"

He smiled. What else could he do? "Fine. Fine I just... I didn't get enough sleep."

Manon gave him a suspicious look but rolled with it, "Okey-dokey mister. You should go to sleep earlier then."

"I will."

"Manon! We need to go now." A girl about seventeen with curly black hair and a printed floral dress called out from the other end of the park.

"That your new babysitter?" Kim felt his chest constrict.

The five year old huffed, "Yes. She's so bossy and doesn't let me do anything. Just sends me to my room while she watches TV."

"Well that's just lazy." he felt a flicker of annoyance at this girl. Marinette never would've done that. "If you're going to babysit someone you better do it right. You should kick her into gear. Manon style." He high-fived the little girl and sent her on her way.

Both teens watched in silence as the little girl met her babysitter and began to scream for an ice-cream. Kim chuckled as the girl tried to get Manon to shut up as politely as possible but it was clear she wanted nothing more than to walk away and leave the kid there.

Alya looked at Kim when the noise started to fade with the promise of an ice-cream. "Who was that?"

"Manon."

"And what is it about that girl that makes you sad?"

Kim didn't look at her. "Manon was a girl Marinette used to babysit." Alya looked towards the fading girl. "Mari always wore her hair in pig-tails. Manon copied her because she was her role model. She loved Mari like a sister, and so did she." Kim watched Manon until she disappeared, "We have to get her back."

Alya looked back at Kim, "And little angel?"

Kim snorted. "Manon can be a bit of a handful. Mari always used to joke about her being-" He put his clasped hands under his chin on an angle and spoke in a higher voice, no doubt mimicking Marinette, "-an absolute angel." Cue the laughter. "So we started calling her that. You still called her a monkey though."

She gasped, "I knew that little girl?"

Kim hummed an affirmative, "You helped her babysit sometimes because of all your experience babysitting your sisters."

"How do you know about my sisters?"

"You told me," the look he sent her was one part amused and one part sad. "And I've met them."

Alya chuckled and held her head in her hands, "Of course you did." She whispered.

Kim bent down to see her face, "You okay?"

"Sort of. I mean," She shook her head, "I just don't know what's real and what isn't anymore."

Kim sat up with a pensive look on his face, "...How did we meet?"

When Alya raised an eyebrow at him he made a motion for her to go on. "Okay..." She didn't know how this was going to help but she'd humour him. "It was my first day at the school. At lunch time when the whole Stoneheart incident was over I was going to take a seat on the other end of the courtyard to eat my lunch when you..." Noticing her confused face, Kim smirked and asked:

"And I..?"

"You... You... You came up to ask me something!" Alya looked at him triumphant but the look faded when she saw his smirking face.

"Close. But not quite. Try again."

Alya huffed. She scrunched her eyes up and thought as hard as she could. She was walking with her bag on her back across the grass to the bench by the tree. She remembered the hard ground under her feet.

Wait.

Hard ground?

Why was the grass so hard?

She focused on the feeling. And in her mind's eye she could see the grass turn into a concrete path. She was walking outside the school, across the road in front of her was the same bakery they'd gone in earlier that day. This didn't happen. She didn't go to the bakery on her first day. She stayed in school. She could feel the remnant of some small excitement in her chest. But why? Why was she excited?

"Guys! Wait up!" She stopped at the sound of a voice behind her. Kim was running up to her. She didn't know his name at the time but she heard a voice say:

"Hey, Kim. What do you need?" She didn't recognise the voice but it sounded familiar somehow. She figured that Kim was looking for someone else and not her. She wasn't with someone after all and he called out in plural form. He wasn't there to talk to her, so why was she still there?

Kim was asking a question to someone who'd taken a step forward in front of Alya. At this angle all she could see was blue-black pigtails and a pink bag with a stylish 'M' in a flower pattern.

"Felicie was wondering if you could come over and play today? She hasn't seen you all week." Kim asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I was busy. But sure! Today should be no problem. Your place, usual time?" The girl in front of her asked.

"Yeah that'd be great." The jock smiled and turned in her direction. "Who's this?"

The Alya in her mind stuck out her hand, "I'm Alya. I'm new here."

When he shook her hand and introduced himself, the voice now next to her said; "She's my friend."

Alya came out of the vision with a gasp and realised her cheeks were wet again.

 _The same bakery they'd gone in earlier that day._

 _Marinette's parent's own this bakery._

 _She had short black hair with a blue tinge._

 _Mari always wore her hair in pigtails._

 _All she could see was the blue-black pigtails and a pink bag with a stylish 'M' in a flower pattern._

 _Marinette was a skilled designer. Had some of the best work I've ever seen._

"Marinette?" She whispered to herself.

She looked at Kim who had been silently waiting for her to come back down to Earth. "We were walking to her parent's bakery for lunch. You came up to ask if she wanted to visit your place to see Felicie." She laughed. The kind of laugh you have when you can't believe something that was really happening. "W-who's Felicie?" She asked as a way to calm herself down.

"She's my little sister. She's the same age as Manon and she also really liked Marinette. Sometimes all three had playdates." He gave a short laugh, "Mari was pretty much just a big kid sometimes."

Alya was still reeling from the new memory she didn't know she had and automatically went into reporter mode to calm herself.

Facts. She needed facts.

"I didn't know you had a little sister."

Kim smiled. "Not many people do. It would ruin the whole tough guy image. Promise you won't tell?"

Alya chuckled, "Your secret's safe with me." She got the feeling she already made that promise.

While she took a breather, Kim looked out at the park. When his eyes settled on the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue he stood up. "What is that?"

Alya looked up but the teen was already walking away. By the time she caught up to him he was already halfway across the park. Whatever he saw must've been urgent. "What's what?"

She hoped he saw Genie. The akuma had been eerily quiet and it made Alya uncomfortable. She just wanted this whole mess to be over.

"That." He answered simply. Which annoyed Alya _again_.

Now that he was closer, Kim could see there _was_ something wrong with the heroes' statue and it wasn't just a trick of the eye. He stopped in front of the statue and stared, open-mouthed. "Who the hell is that!?"

On the pedestal, the crouched form of Chat Noir was still the same but the person standing behind him _wasn't_ Ladybug. "Is that a turtle!?" The person standing behind Chat Noir was clearly male and wore a skin tight hoodie of some kind. The hood covered his head and a pair of goggles that rested there. He stood in a defensive positon with a large turtle shell strapped to his arm and had a cheeky grin chiselled onto his face much like Chat did.

"Yeah, it is." Alya gave him a strange look. "You look like you've never seen him before."

"I haven't. Who is he? Where's Ladybug?"

He looked to Alya for answers but the blogger looked as confused as he did. For different reasons. "Who's Ladybug?"

Kim stared at her as if she just asked why water was wet, "Whaddaya mean, 'who's Ladybug'? She's one of the heroes of Paris, not this-" He looked at the plaque, "-Jade Turtle person. I've never even heard of a Jade Turtle. Where'd he come from? Where's Ladybug?"

Alya looked at him carefully, "Kim... There's never been a hero named Ladybug. It's always just been Chat Noir and Jade Turtle."

Alya started thinking the moment Kim went pale. Anyone else would think Kim needed to get his head checked but Alya knew better. So far he'd been right about everything and he remembered the changes made by Genie. If he remembered Marinette then maybe that meant he could remember any other changes made by a wish. And she told him that.

"It doesn't really make sense. I only remember Marinette because I touched her at the moment she wasn't supposed to exist anymore. I should only remember that change but... maybe me remembering made me immune to Genie's affects? Or maybe this has something to do with that wish... but I don't know how."

He pulled out his phone and began to type furiously.

"What are you doing?" Alya asked him.

He finished his search and said, "No Ladyblog." He looked at Alya's confused face and spoke before she could ask any questions, "What's the name of your blog?"

Alya was having trouble keeping up with Kim. Just when she thought she understood everything. "...Uh. The... The Black Jade Blog."

"Sounds like a ship name." Kim said as he searched the new name.

Alya cringed, "Yeah, you're not the first person to say that. But a lot of people think it's cool so I kept it."

Kim nodded, "Yeah, it works. I like how it combines both. Your other one was called the Ladyblog, didn't mention Chat at all."

"Why not?" Why wouldn't she include Chat?

"When you were asked you said it was because Chat left before you could learn his name and by the time you did 'Ladyblog' had already stuck."

"Why didn't I just make a second one?"

Kim looked up from his phone, "I'm not sure. I guess you just didn't think of that." He looked at her confused, "What changed for you to think of that?"

Alya shrugged, "I started thinking of making a second blog if there was more heroes. There was a rumour going around that there was another hero in the background that was causing the lady..." She faded off in realisation, "...bugs." She looked at Kim and shouted loud enough to draw attention, "The ladybugs!" Kim shushed her so she gave him a sheepish look but it couldn't hide the light in her eyes.

"What about the ladybugs?" Kim had a feeling she was on to something big that could give them the answers they were looking for.

"Okay. Every time the guys defeat an akuma they take the butterfly away and a few minutes later a swarm of ladybugs and pink light fly through Paris and fix _everything_ that was destroyed in the fight. _That's_ the one everyone thinks is the other hero, _why_ didn't I get that when you started saying Ladybug?" She hit her forehead with her palm for her stupidity.

Kim paid no mind. "Ladybugs and pink light! That's Ladybug's power! At the end of a fight she cleanses the akuma and throws her Lucky Charm into the air to send her ladybugs to fix everything!"

Alya's smile threatened to split her face. She always got excited at getting new hero info. "So your Ladybug hero is the same one that's been fixing everything from the shadows?"

"Yeah!" Kim was glad that Ladybug was still around. He didn't know anything about the turtle hero but he doubted he could fix everything the akuma did like Ladybug could. With that thought in mind, Kim worried that there would be no way to reverse Genie's magic and bring back Marinette. But Ladybug was still here and still curing everything. Just from the shadows. "But..." He didn't want to bring back the gloom and confusion... but it just didn't add up, "Why? Why isn't Ladybug out here dealing with the akumas with Chat like usual. What changed?" He looked at the statue again, this time with mistrust, "Why is this turtle hanging around and Ladybug is nowhere to be seen?"

Alya looked at Jade Turtle's face. She didn't want to believe what she was hearing but it _was_ starting to look a little foggy. "You think someone wished Ladybug out of the spotlight so they could have it for themselves. You think it was Jade."

"It's the only reason I can come up with for why Ladybug isn't here and _he_ is." Kim looked to his phone where the blog's home page was looking up at him. He looked at the most recent video and realised why the group of girls was so much larger now. Jade Turtle had dark skin, scruffy brown hair and golden eyes, not only that, he was a huge flirt like Chat. Neither of them were as bad as Chat was with Ladybug but they might as well have been with the way the girls were fawning over them at the end of the fight. He saw Jade wink in the direction of the camera and he had a feeling he was winking at Alya, not the lens.

The video jumped to a scene taken on the rooftops where a good portion of the damage was seen. A few moments later the familiar pink light and ladybugs swept through the streets and fixed broken roads, buildings and cars. Kim paused the video on the ladybugs. "That's definitely it. I'd recognise those ladybugs anywhere." He stopped when he saw Alya's face. She was pale, staring at the statue of Jade and obviously trying to hold back tears. Her face was a mixture of betrayal, disbelief and sadness. But most of all... Heartbreak.

"Alya?"

She turned to him slowly. Kim couldn't believe the amount of times he'd seen tears in Alya's eyes in just one day. This time she was trying to be strong. Keep them away. He could see her trying to hold onto the betrayal and forcing it to be the only emotion she had for the turtle. It wasn't working. "H-he kept finding me. Giving me extra interviews. W-walked me h-home." Kim thought back to the wink he gave Alya in the video and felt a wave of anger. If they were right and he _was_ dirty, then he'd been playing Alya, or at the very least, lying to her. "I-I... I..." She took a deep breath to calm herself and the betrayal started to settle. "I liked him."

When Alya looked up she was surprised to see the anger in Kim's eyes. "We better be wrong," he threatened, "Or that turtle's going to be hiding in his shell for the rest of his life."

Neither noticed the confused and worried old man in a Hawaiian shirt who stopped when he heard the name 'Ladybug'.


	6. Chapter 5

**First off, I just want to say that I am _soooo sorry_ for the wait. I won't take up much of your time as I'm sure anyone still reading this just wants to get on with the chapter so go right ahead and I'll leave my excuses till the end.**

* * *

Everyone in Paris knows the two heroes Chat Noir and Jade Turtle. So when Master Fu heard someone saying 'Who the hell is that!?' to the hero statue in the park, his curiosity was peaked. At first Fu thought it was just some tourist who hadn't heard of or seen the heroes yet and was planning to leave. But when he heard the name 'Ladybug' he stopped short.

Fu never found anyone suitable for the Ladybug earrings and with the situation it just didn't seem right to settle for second best. So he gave up his own Miraculous to a worthy recipient and had Wayzz and Plagg visit him with the akumas so Tikki could cleanse the akuma on her own. It was even more taxing without a wielder but Tikki also agreed it was the best idea. Because of the arrangement, no one knew about Ladybug. They knew that the ladybugs fixed everything when the two heroes left and there were rumours of a hero working in the background, but the name Ladybug was never spoken. To hear the name from someone who kept insisting she was a common hero alongside Chat Noir and had no clue who Jade Turtle was made Fu start to worry.

"You remembered everything before Genie granted Chloe's wish. What if that meant you could remember _everything_ Genie changed after a wish? Like this change?" The girl he remembered as the blogger behind the Black Jade Blog pointed at the statue and each word just confused and worried Fu more.

"It doesn't really make sense." Said the boy who he now recognised as a student from the same class as the blogger. "I only remember Marinette because I touched her at the moment she wasn't supposed to exist anymore. I should only remember that change but... Maybe me remembering made me immune to Genie's affects? Or maybe this has something to do with that wish... But I don't know how." Fu didn't understand what was going on. But he was smart enough to realise something big had happened.

He listened carefully to everything the two teens said about the different blogs, one which didn't exist, and the ladybugs. Alya had an epiphany about the ladybugs and when Kim started describing Ladybug' powers perfectly, Fu knew it was no coincidence. These kids knew something he didn't and he needed to know everything. From the sounds of it, it was like they were describing a different life, one only Kim remembered. The Genie they mentioned was most likely an akuma who granted wishes and changed things that no one could remember (except for Kim from the sounds of it). But there hadn't been any sign of an akuma named Genie. He was missing something. He knew it. He'd been feeling off, like he'd forgotten something important all morning. The feeling had begun to fade by midday but something was still missing.

"So your Ladybug hero is the same one that's been fixing everything from the shadows." Fu hummed at that part. It seemed they believed there was a Ladybug hero that wasn't fighting directly. They didn't know everything, but they certainly knew more than the rest of Paris.

"Yeah!" Kim's relieved smile did not go unnoticed by Fu before it changed to a frown, "But... why? Why isn't Ladybug out here dealing with the akumas with Chat like usual? What changed?" Fu frowned at the sentence and how Kim turned to the statue with mistrust. "Why is this turtle hanging around and Ladybug is nowhere to be seen?"

"You think someone wished Ladybug out of the spotlight so they could have it for themselves. You think it was Jade." Fu knew they were wrong about that part. He chose Jade Turtle himself and he hasn't regretted that decision. The boy has proved to be a fantastic hero who has taken every challenge in stride and always put the safety of the people before anything else.

At least he thought.

Fu frowned as he realised he couldn't recall a clear memory of the new turtle hero in a fight. He had an idea of it and could remember important things, but the details seemed unfocused somehow.

Alya looked like she didn't want to believe it, but Kim was already mistrustful because he had no knowledge of the hero. That and the hero he _did_ know was gone. Fu made a note to keep an eye on the two teens in case they did something drastic on false assumptions.

"It's the only reason I can come up with for why Ladybug isn't here and _he_ is." Kim proceeded to watch something on his phone. No doubt a video of the hero in question on the blog they'd discussed earlier.

While he did that, Fu thought back on everything they'd said. He kept going back to the part where they talked about how Kim remembered and no one else did. He knew the boy wasn't lying, he just needed to figure out what was going on that these two knew and he didn't.

Kim said he remembered because he was in contact with a girl named Marinette when she wasn't supposed to exist anymore. He said he should only remember what happened after _that_ change and not the others, putting it down to a possible immunity. But that just didn't sound right to Fu. It _did_ make sense that Kim should only remember things that changed after the wish that apparently made Marinette no longer exist, but he remembered other changes too. The teens' theory was that Jade Turtle had wished to steal Ladybug's spotlight for himself but Fu knew that wasn't true. So the only explanation would be that Ladybug's replacement had something to do with Marinette no longer being around.

That last part was the absolute truth, and Fu should've picked up on it sooner. No wonder he couldn't find a suitable Ladybug. The girl he needed didn't exist. But she did. Once. Before someone wished she didn't exist. Someone who most likely didn't know she was a saviour of Paris.

"Marinette was Ladybug." Fu looked towards the teens. Now _he_ knew something _they_ didn't. But he didn't feel he had the right to tell them. These two obviously knew Marinette before she disappeared. Kim did at least because he remembered her. They might have even been friends. If she didn't tell them, he had no right to. He'd speak up if they went too far with their theory, but for now... He'd just keep a close eye on them.

The boy had finished his video and turned to Alya explaining the ladybugs in the video were, in fact, Ladybug's but he stopped when he saw the girl. In the time of his musings, Alya's mocha skin had turned pale. He recalled previous encounters he'd known Alya and Jade had had and placed the emotions on her face into that equation. He frowned at her confession, knowing any budding relationship wouldn't go anywhere with their current theory in place. He hoped the two could overcome the obstacle and find the truth. Fu knew the teens had a difficult path ahead of them but the greatest things come out of hardship. If each person now involved in this mess he still didn't _truly_ understand persevered, it should turn out alright in the end.

Before Fu turned to leave he heard what Kim told Alya in response to her confession, "We better be wrong. Or that turtle's going to be hiding in his shell for the rest of his life." Despite the unsure situation, Fu smiled. He doubted Kim cared he just threatened a superhero with no way he knew of to make good on his promise. Both Kim and Alya were now alone in a scary situation they didn't fully understand and couldn't even place their trust in their heroes anymore. They were scared and only had each other and Fu was glad they would stick together and defend one another. In these unsure times it was always best to stay close to the people you could trust. He wished them all the best.

He left the park with plans to talk with Tikki. At least now he knew why she'd been crying all morning. She'd lost a Ladybug and she didn't even know it. On second thought... Fu made a detour to a bakery near the park. The choc chip cookies there were her absolute favourite.

* * *

Alya stood still in shock at the words that came out of Kim's mouth. He was being so protective of her. Getting so angry at the possibility that Jade might not be the hero she thought he was and playing with her feelings like they were nothing. It hurt her that that might be true but the protectiveness Kim was showing towards her made her feel so warm. _'So this is what friendship feels like,'_ She thought. _'I love it.'_

She gave Kim a watery smile, "Thank you."

Kim smiled back, "Hey. What are friends for?"

Her smile widened but she tried to shake herself out of it. She was getting tired of being so mushy. She'd been crying all day and now she was practically jumping for joy because Kim was getting angry at a possible jerk for her. _'Okay. Business time.'_ She thought to herself. "Right. So, we need to figure out our next plan of action. There still hasn't been any sign of Genie so I say we should go look for her."

Kim blinked at her idea, "Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Course not, I do it all the time." She flippantly waved a hand at him.

Kim sighed and smiled, amused. "Now I know how Marinette and Nino felt whenever you dragged them around for your crazy ideas."

She gasped, pretending to be affronted, "My ideas are not crazy thank you very much and they are quite effective." She stopped as she thought of something. "Wait, whaddaya mean I dragged Nino around?"

 _'Crap'_ Kim thought. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. "Like I said, you were real tight." He hoped that for once she wouldn't ask questions. He may have told himself he wouldn't tell Alya for her mental health but when she wanted to know something... This girl got answers. It was something that would make her a good reporter but it made it hard to keep things from her. Kim found he couldn't even lie because chances were she'd know.

Alya must've seen the panic on his face because, for once, she let it go. "Right."

Kim heaved a sigh of relief at her mercy and turned his eyes to the people that surrounded them. People going for walks, couples on dates, kids playing games, people throwing frisbees for their dogs to catch and families having picnics. They all looked so happy and content. Not a single one of them knew what was going on. Not a single one remembered Ladybug or thought Jade Turtle wasn't who he said he was. No one here knew anything had changed.

He wondered if any of these people knew Marinette. If any of them had passed her on the street, or if she helped them when they dropped something. Had anyone here had said a passing hello to a girl they don't know was erased from their lives? He wondered if she'd had an impact on any of the people surrounding him, and if she did... How different were they now from when Marinette had crossed paths with them?

He was pulled from his musings when he heard someone clearing their throat. "Alright." said Alya, eager to move on and get back to business, "Next course of action. I say we tell everyone else. So they know not to make any wishes and they might be able to come up with something to help that we haven't thought of yet... Plus... it would be good for them to know about Marinette. She was obviously a big part of everyone's lives and they should know about her."

Kim nodded, "I agree. I say we start with Rose and Juleka."

"Why them?"

He pointed behind her, "Because that's them walking into that ice-cream shop there." Alya followed his finger just in time to see some purple tipped black hair swing into the ice-cream shop appropriately named 'Sweet Tooth'.

"Great! Let's go." Alya grabbed his hand in enthusiasm to do something productive and started running. After a few seconds she realised what she did and let go, embarrassed. Kim just grabbed hold again to get rid of the embarrassment and because she wasn't the only one excited to do something. Together they ran to the ice-cream parlour hand in hand.

"Since we're here, how 'bout an ice-cream?" Kim asked when they walked in.

Alya considered it, "Hmm, I _do_ really feel like a boysenberry swirl right about now." She started walking to the counter but Kim's hand on her arm stopped her.

She looked at him questioningly. Did he change his mind on the ice-cream? "My treat."

Ahh, that's why, "You don't have to, I have money."

"It's the least I can do for dragging you into this whole mess. You've been through a lot today and you deserve it." Kim looked so sincere it was hard to say no.

"Alright, if you insist." She relented. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the sincere look turned into the cheeky one that she knew a lot better.

"And what kind of guy would I be if I didn't pay for the lady, hmm?" He teased.

"Don't get the wrong idea mister. This _isn't_ a date." Alya wagged a finger at him.

"But we were just holding hands." He continued in that annoying tease. Even fluttering his eyelashes like some annoying little girl. He spent too much time with five year olds.

"Grow up." Was all she could say. She finished it with a stuck out tongue. She spent too much time with five year olds too.

He chuckled as they reached the counter, "One boysenberry swirl and one mint choc chip please." He ordered and paid while the two they were after watched them. Juleka and Rose didn't know what to think judging from their expressions. If Kim was right about the dating rumours then their little scene and his buying for Alya wasn't helping any rumours they might have heard. And if there weren't any before there would be after this.

Once they had their ice-creams, the pair walked over to the girls table with bright smiles. "Hey Rose. Hey Juleka." Kim said.

"Hi Kim and Alya." Rose spoke, "How are you?" It was a polite thing to say but both recipients noticed how she looked at Kim more and held a worried tone. She was obviously referring to Kim's earlier outburst in school.

"We're fine." Alya answered, "How about you?"

"We're fine." Rose obviously wanted to say more but was stopped by Juleka, who knew that subtlety wasn't exactly Rose's specialty.

"So what have you been doing?" She asked.

Alya shrugged, "Just hanging around." She wasn't going to disclose what they'd actually been doing just yet. "And you?" She took a bite of her ice-cream and savoured the flavours on her tongue. After everything that had happened in just the space of a few hours this was what she really needed.

Juleka was reluctant to answer so Rose did, "We've been doing some of our favourite things to stay happy." When both Kim and Alya gave her questioning looks she added; "For some reason we were very upset this morning. We don't know why but it started to fade a little while ago." Rose avoided their eyes sheepishly at her admission and almost didn't catch the look the other two shared. But Juleka saw it clearly. The look gave an air of we-know-something-you-don't but it looked like a we-should-tell-them-now look. They both took a seat in the booth with the girls and suddenly they knew this wasn't a social visit.

"What's wrong?" Juleka asked.

Alya took another bite of her ice-cream so Kim had to start. He was the only one that remembered after all.

"Okay this might sound hard to believe but there's a wish granting akuma out there called Genie and she's messed with the timeline... You following?" He looked at the girls for any sign that they didn't trust him. They were undecided yet but nodded to say they were listening. "There used to be another girl in our class. Her name was Marinette and she was our class rep. Chloe didn't like Marinette _at all_ and she started an argument with her this morning. Marinette was winning and making Chloe look like an idiot so Chloe got really angry and wished that Mari was never born." Rose gasped at the thought of someone being so mean but Juleka needed to clear up something she didn't understand.

"This morning? I don't remember any argument this morning. Chloe was actually pretty quiet apart from that thing with Mylene."

Alya took the next part, "After the wish was granted the whole day was reset, just without Marinette. Everyone lost their memories of her since she was never born but Kim kept his because he was holding her arm, trying to pull her away when Genie's magic did it's work. He was essentially holding someone who didn't exist and that's why he remembered and no one else did."

Rose was a kind girl who couldn't understand trickery so she never gave it a second thought that they might be trying to trick them. But Juleka thought about it. She turned it over and over in her head to analyse it for any holes. Kim would be the type to trick people but Alya was an aspiring reporter who always fought to get the facts and tell the truth. It was possible Kim had already fooled her but it didn't seem likely. Juleka hadn't spent much time with Alya but she knew the girl well enough to know that she wasn't easily fooled. There had to be some hard evidence to what they were saying or Alya would never believe it. And that's the only reason she kept listening.

"At first I thought the whole thing was just a bad dream but then I noticed some things that were happening the same way." Kim continued, "Like how Ms Bustier had to leave and she said the exact same thing about more homework when she left just like in my dream. It wasn't until the end of the lesson when Marinette didn't come in late like she was supposed to that I realised what had really happened." The pained look on Kim's face is what sold Juleka. She knew he was a bad actor and there was no way he could fake a face with that much real emotion. From that moment on she listened with rapt attention.

Alya got to the evidence part, "You said before that you were really sad and you didn't know why. Did you notice how everyone else felt the same way?" The girls shook their heads. They'd been too focused trying to stay cheerful in their own little bubble. "Well in the beginning before we figured everything out, Kim and I thought there was an akuma making everyone else sad. We were half right. After the wish was made and Marinette disappeared everyone lost their memories of her but the emotions stayed. We could still feel the pain of losing her even if we didn't know what it meant. It's not as strong now because we're adjusting to Genie's changes but it still feels like we're missing something important." She looked at the girls for confirmation. The tears in Rose's eyes were enough.

"At first I didn't believe Kim but when he took me to the bakery her parents owned and when we met her mom I found some evidence that couldn't be ignored." Alya felt a pang in her heart at the thought of the kind women who lost her own daughter because of a stupid wish. "After Kim left her mom told me that before she found out she was barren her and her husband wanted a daughter named Marinette. There was no way Kim could've known that if she didn't exist."

Rose was sniffling by that point, "S-So... Chloe wished M-Marinette a-a-away and now s-she's g-g-g-gone?" Their solemn nods broke her heart. "That's s-s-so me-mean!" She burst into tears. People stared in their direction at the sound as Juleka held her best friend in her arms. Only Kim saw how Alya also wiped away stray tears from her cheeks.

It took Rose a few minutes to calm down and when she did no one said anything. They finished their ice-creams in silence and left to go back to the park together. The four sat down on the same bench Kim and Alya had sat at before.

No one said anything and it came as a bit of a surprise when Rose was the first to speak. "We have to get her back." The resolute tone she spoke in left no room for argument.

"We plan to." Alya spoke with just as much conviction. She looked towards the statue as a new thought occurred to her, "But first there's something else we need to tell you."

Kim told them all about Ladybug and Alya added in with her knowledge of the ladybugs. When they told them about their Jade-Turtle-not-being-who-he-said-he-was theory, Rose started to cry again. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell an emotional, caring girl like Rose everything they knew but it was too late to turn back now.

Kim couldn't help but notice how Juleka and Rose gave Alya pitying looks during that conversation. He knew about Alya's crush but he doubted she told them about it. He guessed their was some evidence leading to it on the blog and wrote a mental note to check it later.

"If we're right about our theory then Jade might try to stop the akuma from being defeated so the Miraculous Cure won't set things back the way they were. If that happens then Marinette won't come back." Kim finished.

Juleka pursed her lips, "So we need to find this Ladybug hero?"

Alya nodded, "That would help but we have no idea where to look." She looked at Kim. "You're the only one that can remember Ladybug. Is there anything we can use to track her down?"

"I don't know. She was a hero and didn't let her personal life get mixed with her hero life. I have no clue where she could be hiding. The only place she went more than once were her and Chat's meeting spots. You spent ages trying to find all of them." He nodded at Alya.

"Do you think she could be in one of those places?"

"I doubt it. Most of them were on top of monuments and someone would have noticed her if she was hiding up there. I know the Eifel Tower was one of their favourite places."

Kim mentioning the Eifel Tower brought back a memory of Alya's. "The ladybugs always come from somewhere left of the Eifel Tower." She pointed to the spot. "You said that Ladybug sent out her ladybugs to fix everything, so she's the source right?"

Kim perked up, "Right. If we can find where the ladybugs are coming from we'll find Ladybug."

The team smiled at the idea but there was a complication which Juleka brought up, "But... How? How are we going to find that one spot? We only know the direction. Won't we have to wait until they come out again so we can see it?"

Alya frowned in thought, "Maybe not... There's tons of videos of the ladybugs fixing everything and people saying when and where they see them. If we look at them all we should be able to pinpoint the area."

"That sounds like it could take a while." Rose pointed out.

"It also sounds impossible" Juleka added.

"Probably." Alya agreed with a sigh. "But we gotta try _something_."

The team agreed to try and moved to Alya's house because she had the necessary equipment to do what they wanted to do. They all stopped at their own houses to get their laptops as well for more coverage.

"Hey Dad, we're just gonna be in my room doing an assignment." Alya called out to her father as they passed. Despite the importance of their mission, Alya still felt a thrill at having people from school at her house.

"Okay, don't work too hard." Her father shouted up the stairs.

"You have a lovely room Alya." Rose complimented as she walked in.

"Thanks." She hid her small smile by turning on her computer and laptop and pulled up a map of Paris. "So we know that Ladybug is somewhere in this vicinity." She pointed to the area left of the Eifel Tower, "We just need to narrow it down. Rose you look at all the videos of the last akuma, Juleka the one before that and Kim the one before that. We'll work our way back and you tell me which direction they're coming from and where the video was taken so I can put markers on the map. Kim is there anything else we should know about the ladybugs?"

"They spread out in tendrils from the air where Ladybug throws up her lucky charm. It's like a big wheel. Here." He drew a rough picture of a circle with lines sticking out of it. It kind of looked like a basic drawing of a sun and rays. "This is what it looks like in the sky above Ladybug. They start straight and then fly to everything that needs fixing. After that they disappear."

"So it starts in the sky then goes down around the streets?" Kim nodded, "If anyone finds a video where the ladybugs are coming down from the sky we need to check the area."

After that started several hours of video watching in which they were able to narrow it down to an area about twenty-four blocks big. They noticed in a video about eight streets to the right of the Eifel Tower the ladybugs were coming from the right, not the left, so they knew Ladybug couldn't be past that point. But beyond that, they were unable to narrow it further and no one could find a video of the ladybugs coming from the sky anywhere.

Each of them knew that it was incredibly unlikely that they'd actually find Ladybug this way. But they were desperate and they needed to do something so no one mentioned it.

They agreed to do more the next day anyway and tell others in their class about Genie and Marinette. Kim reminded them not to make wishes of any kind before he left and they all tried to make sure their families did the same thing.

As Kim lay in his bed he couldn't believe the day had gone so well. He thought that _someone_ out there would have made a wish by now.

Maybe Genie was waiting for something?

The thought kept him up all night.

* * *

 **Well, there you have it. The chapter you waited a year for. Was it worth it?**

 **But really, I'm sorry it took me so long when I said I'd only be gone for exams and I'd like to especially apologise to the people who'd PM'd me about this story and I said you'd get an update soon and I didn't deliver.**

 **One of the main reasons it took me so long to update was because I wanted to get back on top of things before getting back in the swing of it. I thought I'd be only a few months late but when I realised a whole year had passed, I knew I had to give you guys something.**

 **Between school, life, my own health problems and just not knowing what to write, I haven't really been writing as much as I'd like to. I'm in Year 12 now so my main focus will be on that, but I'm determined to get more writing done in the future.**

 **On the bright side though, in my absence I have been doing a lot for this story and I am almost finished writing it. I have the next four chapters already written up and waiting for a few more touch ups and I think maybe another chapter or two should be it. So you shouldn't have to wait so long (on this story at least) again.**

 **Also, if anyone is reading my other Miraculous story "Finding A Hero", I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little bit longer. I want to get this story finished first. I hope that's alright.**

 **Anyway, until next time. (Which _will_ be next Saturday) See ya.**


	7. Chapter 6

When morning came for Kim; it was like any other.

His sister woke him up in her usual bubbly way, the sun was shining and his parents were making breakfast.

He could almost believe the day before never had happened.

He left for school earlier than usual as he and the girls had decided to meet up to discuss their next plans. But before he left he gave Felicie a challenge for the day. He told her not to make any wishes and tell her friends at preschool not to either. He said it was a challenge for the day and she agreed happily. Kim didn't know if that would make them _want_ to make a wish or not, but he figured it was worth a try.

On his walk to school, Kim watched old videos on the Black Jade Blog. It made him nervous to think of how much power Genie must have if she was able to make such incredible changes. It wasn't just everyone's memories that had been altered, if there was solid proof of another timeline like these videos then that meant that she had literally changed history. It was a terrifying prospect when you thought about it.

He wanted to see if there was any sign of Ladybug at all, but there wasn't. She never fought, and the other two didn't mention anything about her, even when asked about the ladybugs by Alya. He noticed there was no big showdown at the Eifel Tower and no reincarnation of Stoneheart. Because of that no one even knew about Hawkmoth until the second akuma Stormy Weather.

When he reached the school he saw Alya, Juleka and Rose were waiting out the front for him. He began jogging over to them when he saw Max was also there and talking to Alya. No doubt about him. Kim picked up the pace with more purpose. They'd agreed to tell their classmates everything and he figured there was no better way to start than with his own best friend.

"Hey, Max. How are you?" He grinned when he reached them. It felt like it had been ages since they last spoke even though it was only yesterday. A lot had happened.

Max looked a bit unsure about his chipper attitude, but he smiled anyway. "I am well, Kim. How about you?"

"Better than yesterday. Hey listen, the girls and I have to tell you something." He gestured to the trio standing patiently to the side.

The unsure look intensified, "Okay. What is it?"

Kim started, "I know you're gonna find this hard to believe buddy, but when you live in Paris where akumas are a normal occurrence the realm of possibility tends to stretch a little bit so hear me out."

Thus started the retelling of the tale that Kim felt he had told way too many times. Maybe getting all their classmates in one place to tell them all at the same time would be a better idea.

Max, naturally, had a much harder time believing their story than Juleka and Rose did. He kept stating the impossibilities and rattling off statistics to prove it. Statistics that went way over their heads. But he was asking a lot of questions and after about half an hour he ran out of things to say. Kim was right. When you live in Paris 'normal' has a different definition.

Max was silent for a while after that, having had his beliefs in science once again thrown in his face. When the bell rang they were all silent on their way to class. Just before they reached the door Max spoke; "I hate magic."

They all let out a soft laugh and Kim felt it was okay to speak again. "I was thinking," He ignored Alya and Max's groans, "that instead of telling this whole thing to one person at a time, we do it all at once. It'll be much easier that way."

Alya nodded, "I was about to suggest the same thing. We'll do it after roll call."

They agreed and entered the classroom where Kim found a little bit of hesitance. Max, having re-emerged from his stupor just slightly, picked up on it. "Go ahead and sit with Alya. I need some time to think."

The rest of their little group smiled as he took his seat but two did not. Adrien and Nino had overheard that last part and, not knowing the context, immediately assumed that Max and Kim were having an argument. Following Max's poor posture and empty face they did not see the smiles of the rest of the group. The two began speculating and sharing what they knew. Max was in his own little world, but Kim seemed quite content and conversing with Alya. Both had heard the rumours circulating about the two being in a relationship and had seen the little scene the day before and came to the conclusion that the rumours were true and Max was feeling left out now that his best friend had a girlfriend.

"I hope it turns out alright." Nino said.

Adrien looked at his friend and noted the way his fists were clenched and shaking. He knew that Nino had a crush on Alya so finding out that she had a boyfriend must have been pretty hard on him. He knew that if the girl he was crushing on turned out to be dating someone, he'd be heartbroken.

 _'Wait'_ , Adrien thought. _'I don't have a crush on anyone. So where did that thought come from?'_ Not for the first time that morning, Adrien felt like crying.

Adrien pushed the weird feeling aside and focused on the task at hand. His best friend was hurting. But he still had enough heart to worry about Kim and Max's friendship. Adrien didn't know what to say though.

All this time he'd been pushing his friend to ask her out with encouraging reassurances that it would all work out just fine. And he believed it would be fine because _all this time_ Adrien believed that Alya liked him too. But it appeared he was wrong. So what was he supposed to say to make it better?

Luckily he didn't have to find out because bigger problems walked through the door.

All conversations stopped as Chloe Bourgeois entered the room.

Her hair was loose from it's ponytail and fell limp on her shoulders, she wasn't wearing her signature sunglasses or yellow jacket and her face was _completely_ void of makeup. The mayor's daughter slouched as she shuffled into the room with her face hidden behind her barely brushed locks and her eyes never looking higher than her feet. She stopped before she reached the stairs and Adrien nearly got up when he noticed that his oldest friend was shaking. He stopped when she slowly started to lift her head. When Chloe's tired eyes with dark circles underneath looked at her seat they filled with fear. No one said anything when her gaze slowly turned to the seat that was occupied by both Alya and Kim. She flinched and looked away almost immediately, as if the sight of them hurt her. Without another word, Chloe sat in her seat followed by the ever-present and clearly worried Sabrina whom no one saw enter just after, too absorbed by the sight of the blonde wreck.

The silence in the room was thick. Not one word was spoken. No one knew how to react to that. When Ms Bustier entered the room she was shocked to find her usually rowdy classroom completely silent. As she called out the role, no one noticed how both Kim and Chloe flinched at Mylene's name said after Juleka's.

Once roll call was over and it was evident that everyone from the class was there, Kim and Alya shared a nod and both raised their hands.

Before the teacher could call on them however, Alix's voice rose up from behind Alya.

"Ugh! I'm so sick of this heat already! I wish it would sn-"

"NO!" Several voices cried out, but none were louder or more desperate than one Chloe Bourgeois.

It was too late though. By the time it took for the commands to be shouted, and for those commands to be understood, Alix had already finished the word.

Alix's shocked and confused eyes traversed the room of her equally shocked and confused peers, landing on the people that had twinges of fear on their faces. Alya, Kim, Max, Juleka and Rose turned their attention and confusion to Chloe while the blonde looked as if Alix had just murdered someone.

After a beat of silence, Alix spoke again, "What did I say?"

A purple mist began seeping through the windows as if in answer to her question. Everyone in the room minus the teacher felt a sense of deja vu as the mist formed into a person wearing purple and gold. Gold-painted lips twisted into a malicious smirk aimed at the small pink-haired girl.

"I am Genie," She said in a voice that echoed unnaturally, "And I will grant your wish spoken in frustration."

Genie disappeared as quickly as she came, as if she'd never been there. The only evidence to her claims was the purpling sky and the snowflakes falling unnaturally heavy considering how hot it had been not one minute ago.

As snow began piling up outside and the room grew colder, Alix turned to her classmates with her arms wrapped around herself. "I take it back."

The only person to respond was Chloe. The mayor's daughter sat in her seat and brought her legs up to her chest before speaking in a pained whisper, "You can't. Once you make a wish, you can't take it back."

Alya stepped forward, a thoughtful look on her face. "And how do you know that?" The blonde only hid herself further in her arms and legs, "How did you know not to make a wish." This time it wasn't a question. It seemed as if Alya had already figured out the answer to that.

A sniffle was the first thing she got. And then Chloe was straight up bawling as she tried to get the words out. It wasn't anything like her loud and fake sobs she used to get her way. These were real, genuine and full of remorse tears that she was crying. "It's my fault, I know it is, I took it too far, I didn't mean, I didn't mean it, I promise I didn't mean it, everyone knows I hate Marinette but I'd never really want her to never be born, I wouldn't, I mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"

"Chloe!"

The heiress finally stopped her rant as Alya shouted her name. Chloe couldn't look her in the eye, knowing that she was the reason her best friend was gone. "I'm sorry." She said again, this time calmer. By now everyone was staring at her with more confusion than ever. "I-I tried to take it b-back, I really d-did. B-but it wouldn't work. G-genie wouldn't take back m-my w-wish. S-s-sh-she's g-g-gone!"

When she burst into tears again Alya didn't try to quiet her. The blogger had gone pale and slowly stood back to stare at Kim. What passed between their eyes in that silent conversation, no one in the class knew. Alya turned back to Chloe with her own tears in her eyes. It looked like she herself didn't know what to say next.

Taking the opportunity, Ms Bustier stepped forward and tried to make some sense of the situation. "I understand that that was an akuma, but you two seem to know more about this situation. What is going on?" She, and the rest of the class, looked between both girls, waiting for an explanation. It was silent for enough time that when Kim let out a shaky exhale, nearly everyone in the room jumped out of fright at the sudden noise.

"I can explain that, miss. We were gonna tell the whole class this morning anyway." When all eyes turned to him, he straightened up. By now Alya had composed herself and was facing the class with him.

"Please... Go on." Ms Bustier motioned towards the front of the room before taking a seat in Kim and Alya's abandoned spot.

The two stood tall as all the students took their seats, shivering as the cold continued to creep in. They listened avidly as the duo recounted the past day's events, about Marinette, Chloe's wish and how Kim was the only one who remembered.

"... Well... We _thought_ he was the only one who remembered." Alya added with a look in Chloe's direction. The girl was still curled up and had remained silent through their whole speech, having ceased her crying by the time they began. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Chloe lifted her head from her arms and looked at Alya for a moment. "... I... I thought it was just a bad dream at first." She spoke in the most quietest voice any of them had heard from the rich girl's mouth, "I just... Wanted to wake up. Or at least... I didn't think it would be permanent. I thought it might go away if I learned my lesson... And I have." Chloe's voice picked up a little in volume and surety, those listening didn't know if she was trying to convince them, or was holding onto the hope that if Genie was listening she'd take back her wish if she knew the heiress regretted it. "I regret it, I know I went too far. I never liked Marinette, but wishing she was never born was too low. I want to take it back, I... I do. I really do." Chloe's voice had grown shaky and unconfident when it was clear that Genie wasn't listening. "I was hoping that everything would be back to normal today. But when I saw she wasn't in her seat again... I just kept hoping that she was gonna be late like usual... But..." Chloe shook her head. "But she's not... She's not coming back."

"The wish isn't going to go away until Genie is taken care of... Which leads us to another problem." Kim looked at Alya worriedly. Her voice had trembled just slightly at the end of her sentence and with the steely look in her eyes, he couldn't decide if it was out of sadness or anger. " _We_ have to take care of this akuma."

Confused and incredulous chatter filled the room.

"What do you mean _we_ have to!?"

"We can't fight an akuma!"

"What!? Why!?"

"Why can't Chat and Jade deal with it?"

"All right everyone. Settle down."

The class fell silent at their teacher's voice and stared expectantly at the duo at the front.

Kim continued, "Marinette is our classmate. I know not all of you can remember her but the fact that you were all feeling sad yesterday is proof she meant something to you. Marinette never failed to help someone in need and we owe it to her to help her now. I know we don't have experience, but if I'm right then we are the only ones who can help Marinette."

Alya turned to Adrien who asked the last question. "Chat and Jade can't help us... Because we can't trust them." This time the class stayed silent in shock, waiting for them to explain. "We developed a theory that because Kim can remember Marinette he can remember everything Genie has changed, like an immunity. We thought this because he can remember other things that are just _way_ too possible for him to be wrong... A-and from what Kim can remember of the previ- _true_ timeline... There was no Jade Turtle."

Eyes started widening in fear and confusion as Kim took the reins. "Since the very first akuma attack there were always two heroes that protected us. Chat Noir... And Ladybug." A few of the quicker people who remembered Alya's theory on there being a ladybug hero in the shadows caught on. Whimpers of 'Oh God' and 'This can't be happening' were tossed around the room while the others who hadn't figured it out yet continued to look confused.

Alya could see a flash of recognition in Chloe's eyes but the confusion still stayed. So she remembered Ladybug, but was still confused on why they shouldn't trust Jade Turtle. "The theory we came up with is that Jade Turtle was someone who made a wish to be a hero and put Ladybug out of action. For this reason, we can't trust him."

"But Jade's always taken care of us." Adrien protested again.

"I thought so too." Alya's voice was quiet and unsteady but she looked Adrien hard in the eye as she spoke. "But the more I think about it. The more I look back on those memories, the foggier they get. Like when Kim told me to remember how I met him the memory just slipped away, like it wasn't really there. Because that memory, like my one's of Jade... weren't even real to begin with." She finally tore her eyes away at that confession and her voice broke just slightly.

Alya didn't want to believe that her hero, the one she had fallen for, was nothing but a lie. But she had spent the majority of the night before reflecting on all her memories of the hero and it was like the more she reached the further away he got. She tried thinking hard on those memories, like she did with Kim in the park the day before, but without knowing what she was looking for no solid memories came through. She did get flashes though, when she thought back on the first time the heroes came to Paris. Turning a tap, flashes of red and black spots, an army of stone creatures, hundreds of dark butterflies forming a face, being stuck behind a car, a cry of 'Lucky Charm!'. Even telling a pigtailed girl about a blog she made. The Ladyblog.

Alya opened her eyes and faced the class. "We don't know for sure what's going on. But until we do, we can't trust anyone but ourselves."

She could still see the uncertainty in some of their eyes so she tried the same tactic Kim used on her in the park. "If you don't believe me, try what I did. Think back and remember the first time any of you saw Jade." She saw many people close their eyes and concentrate hard. Some opened them with a whimper or look of fear in their eyes. Max looked shock, Alix began to get angry, Adrien's eyes were unfocused and Nino had turned deathly pale.

Alya looked at Chloe and saw a look of deep contemplation she'd never seen on the Mayor's daughter. She raised her eyebrow and filed it away for later questioning when Chloe seemed to come to some sort of decision with a determined nod to herself. There was no fear at all on her face and the blogger got the impression that the girl hadn't even been listening to them or thinking back on her memories of Jade Turtle. Then again if she remembered everything like Kim did then she probably didn't even have memories to draw from.

Alya brought her attention back to the class and began to address them more firmly. Knowing they were done with Jade she moved on to a different topic. "Kim, Juleka, Rose and I spent hours yesterday watching videos of past akuma attacks trying to pinpoint the location the ladybugs originated from so we could find Ladybug."

"But the likeliness of finding her that way is incredibly low." Max pointed out.

Alya nodded slowly, "We know that... But what else can we do?"

"If Jade really is our enemy then we can't risk the possibility that he will try everything in his power to prevent us from cleansing this akuma." Kim continued.

"But what about Chat?" Nino asked. "He was still a hero before Genie arrived so shouldn't you be able to trust him?"

"We should." Kim nodded. "Like Alya said, we don't know for sure what's going on, so it's possible Jade isn't even the bad guy here. But Chat works with him so that either means Jade's good or Chat's memories have been altered like ours in some way." He shook his head. "It's best to be careful about this though. Until we know what's going on, we're on our own."

"But Kim, how can we stand up against an akuma?" Ms Bustier asked. "None of us have any sort of abilities to aid us here."

Alix suddenly grinned and spoke up. "We might not have any super powers like Chat, Jade or Ladybug." She spoke in a voice that had everyone wary. That was the tone she used whenever she had a devious plan for a prank. "But we do have our own... Special skillset."

The teacher gulped at the grin on her student's face. She knew from experience how disastrous Alix's plans could end up being. And she knew this time, she was going to have to encourage it.

She hoped she didn't get fired for this.

* * *

A few blocks away, a preschool was being covered in snow. The children were out playing when the sky turned purple and the snow began to fall, but were now holed up inside by their worried caretakers.

Young as they were, the children didn't understand the danger and were confused on why they had to go inside and why their teachers were so worried.

It was just snow.

While the adults ran around turning on heaters and gathering blankets, most of the children sulked about having to end their game of tag. One such child was staring out a window with a stubborn pout on his face. It wasn't fair. Why did those mean grown ups have to end all their fun. It would be even _more_ fun to play in the snow but they weren't allowed out _at all_!

"Noll, get away from the window." One of the women spoke with worry. She didn't know what was happening other than it was an akuma and she had no idea what this particular akuma was capable of. She didn't want the children anywhere near the windows in case the glass broke from something.

But Noll didn't move. Why should he listen to the meanies who ruined his fun? He stayed by the window and thought about all the fun he could have at home, far away from these mean adults.

With the snow outside, his thoughts straight away turned to the game he was playing on his XBOX over the weekend. It was a fighting game in the snow and there was an army of snowmen that fought against the evil trolls. It was Noll's favourite game.

The teacher from before came up and pulled Noll away by his arm. "I told you to get away from the window."

Noll shook and twisted his arm out of her grip and sat on the floor with his arms crossed. "It's not fair. Why'd you have to ruin our fun?"

"It's snowing Noll, it's too cold to go outside. You'll get sick." She said, not wanting to tell the child of the true danger in case it scared him. "You can still play inside."

"But you don't let us run inside!" The child shot back.

The teacher crouched down to his level on the floor. "That's because there's not enough room in here to run and you could bump into someone and hurt them." She said in a calm and reasonable voice. "But you can play other games in here. Just stay away from the windows please."

She wanted a confirmation, but Noll refused to speak and she needed to make sure all the children were warm. Satisfied that he would stay away from the windows for now she reminded him to stay warm and went to check on the others.

Noll was still upset and turned to the window with a pout still on his face. With a huff he said out loud: "I wish there could be an army of snow monsters like in my game. Then we could have some fun."

"NO!"

Everyone stopped and looked at the little girl who had shouted. Felicie stomped up to Noll with a disapproving look on her face. "You're not supposed to make a wish, remember?"

Before another word could be said, a purple mist entered the room with a cackle. The children stared in awe at the figure that formed while the teachers tried to pull them all as far away as possible. The new person in the room pointed at Noll. "I am Genie, and I will grant your wish spoken in childishness."

She disappeared and for a moment everything was silent. Then everyone's attention was brought outside the window by a purple glow. The children watched in fascination and awe as the snow outside began to lift off the ground and form shapes. The teachers, however, were horrified by the sight of ice, snow and purple magic coming together in the form of scary looking snow monsters _._ A _lot_ of snow monsters. Soon, an entire army stood at the ready, as tall as the building they were in and armed with sharp, icy weapons. All their eyes opened at once to reveal glowing gold.

Some of the children began to quiver in fear and hide in the teacher's arms.

But Noll was grinning like it was the best thing ever. As the newly formed army began to march around the entire city, one whispered word was all he could manage in his excitement.

"Awesome."

* * *

 **Noll means elf warrior. I found it fitting.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 7

Upon exiting the classroom, the students of Ms Bustier's class realised that the school had been evacuated. It was something they should have noticed before as it was a common thing for the students and faculty to go home during an akuma attack if it would be considered a threat to their safety.

Ms Bustier was, of course, very worried about this.

"You should all go home. This is a very dangerous idea." At this point, the students were just ignoring her. She'd said this many times already but they weren't going to listen. They'd all made up their minds and they had all decided that this was their best course of action. Until they knew the story behind the heroes of Paris, they really were on their own. Plus... Marinette was their classmate. They owed it to her to try. And no one knew this better than Chloe.

"You can go home if you want to Ms Bustier, but I'm not going anywhere." The class stopped in their trek to the school cafeteria at these words. Surprised by their meaning and who they were spoken from. "It's my fault Marinette's gone and I'm going to do everything I can to bring her back and make things right."

While the words weren't something anyone ever thought they'd hear from Chloe Bourgeois, they all recognised the stubborn look on her face. The face of a girl who wanted something and wasn't going anywhere until she got it. And Chloe Bourgeois _always_ got what she wanted.

Ms Bustier looked hard at Chloe for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Fine. I can't stop you, but I'm not leaving you here. We're still on school grounds so I'm still responsible for you."

Chloe nodded and moved forward with a flick of her hair. "Then keep up."

As annoying as it was, Chloe's classmates were glad to see a return of her haughty attitude. Mopey Chloe was just weird and something no one knew what to do with. Chloe, however, despite her outward appearance, was an even bigger mess on the inside than before.

Having something to do took her mind off her mistake, and as thankful as she was to have her hope of bringing Marinette back return, she couldn't get her mind off all that Kim and Alya had said.

When she first woke up that morning she, like Kim, thought it was just a dream. She went on with her morning as usual and turned up at school like always. But then when they got to class Sabrina started moving towards Marinette and Alya's desk. At first she thought her friend was stealing back their seats and praised her for finally growing a backbone. But then Sabrina looked confused and said those words that finally sent reality crashing back down on her.

"Who's Marinette?"

Chloe tried to get her friend to stop messing with her and threatened her with all sorts of things to get her to tell the truth and stop playing games. But Sabrina only got more confused and a little scared. Chloe tried to prove Marinette's existence by searching her up on the school's website where she was listed as one of the class presidents. She wasn't there. Her and Sabrina were. She tried searching up the competitions that she won but saw herself come out as winner with completely different designs to the one's Marinette made. Even her article with Jagged Stone when she did his album cover didn't exist.

It was like _she_ never existed.

Like she was never born.

Chloe went through the rest of the morning in a bit of a haze after realising it wasn't a dream, not really paying attention to anything. When lunch came around, she started to gather herself. Genie was just an akuma, it was up to Ladybug to deal with her. Pulling out her phone and turning her back on the full plate on the table, Chloe resigned herself to having to tell the heroes how to do their job since she was the only one who remembered the akuma. With a sigh and thought on what Paris' heroes would do without her, she searched up the Ladyblog.

But it wasn't there either.

She searched up recent news on the town heroes next to try and find it. All she found was a video of Chat Noir and some turtle guy fighting off the latest akuma. No Ladybug in sight. After several more searches, Chloe came to one final conclusion. Ladybug, like Marinette, never existed.

She searched her room for all the familiar Ladybug merchandise; the posters, stuffed ladybug pillow, her replica of Ladybug's suit.

Nothing.

Collapsing onto her bed, Chloe tried to figure out why Ladybug was gone. She knew Marinette was gone because of her wish and figured something similar must have happened to Ladybug. But who would wish _Ladybug_ was never born?

What happened next was nothing grand. There was no analytical thoughts, no flashbacks from the past, nothing like what one would expect from the revelation Chloe just received. The thought just popped into her head. Like it had been sitting in the back of her mind, waiting to be realised. It was almost... Casual. Like it wasn't a life-changing thought.

 _Marinette is Ladybug._

Chloe didn't move for several moments after this thought.

Then she started crying.

She had no doubt that she was wrong at all. Marinette being Ladybug was the only thing that made sense. It was all so clear when she thought about it, and she felt stupid for not seeing it before.

Marinette's boost in confidence only started showing up around the same time Ladybug appeared. That was also when Marinette started wearing those plain earrings Chloe continuously mocked, no one had seen her wear any other pair for months. Ladybug and Marinette were never seen together, in fact, Marinette ran away every time an akuma showed up. Their eyes and even their _hairstyles_ were the same! Chloe could only blame some sort of ladybug magic powers for why no one had ever figured it out before, because it was so damn obvious when she thought about it.

But that all meant that her hero was also the same girl that she was constantly belittling. That the person she admired was the same girl she mocked for being a poor baker's daughter. That her idol that she took selfies with was the same girl who's life she tried to make miserable on a daily basis.

It was all too much to take in.

Returning to school for the last half of the day forced Chloe to calm herself down but she hadn't focused at all for the rest of the day. She tried to calm herself with the thought that maybe everything would go back to normal if she'd learned her lesson. She knew that wasn't how akumas worked, but it was all she had.

She tried calling out for Genie once. Saying that she'd won, that she regretted it. But nothing happened, and she spent the majority of the night talking to the air on her balcony.

When she returned to school the next day to find nothing had changed that small glimmer of hope she had somehow managed to hold onto had vanished. She felt a pressure on her chest that made her want to start crying all over again. Shock, guilt and fear pressed down on her until it hurt to breathe and she sunk into her own mind, ignoring Sabrina's attempts to get her attention and all that was going on around her. She only broke out of her state when she heard the beginnings of a wish from one of her classmates and acted on some instinctual fear to stop it.

Confessing to her crimes was something Chloe Bourgeois had never had to do in her life and she couldn't describe the feeling that came with it. It made her feel better and worse at the same time. But finding out she wasn't the only one who remembered Marinette definitely lifted the pressure a bit.

When Kim and Alya started talking about Jade Turtle and how he couldn't be trusted, she couldn't understand why at first. She didn't know how the akuma problem could be solved if Ladybug wasn't around but she never really doubted the turtle's intentions. She just figured that because Marinette wasn't around to be Ladybug, another hero had to take her place. She didn't even think of him possibly being a bad guy. But that was just because she knew why Ladybug wasn't around so she had no reason to be suspicious of a replacement. Chloe realised with a shock that even though Kim remembered Marinette and Ladybug, he still hadn't figured out the two were the same person.

While the class argued on if they should fight the akuma or not, Chloe was having a serious debate going on in her head.

 _'Should I tell them?'_

She never really liked Marinette, but she felt guilty for what she did and wanted to at least set it right. The least she could do to make it up to Marinette was to keep her secret.

Chloe decided not to tell anyone about Ladybug. She'd still be a little wary of Jade Turtle for appearance's sake but she believed him to be trustworthy. She had no doubt that he was innocent and had no clue that people saw him as a bad guy.

* * *

Nino and Adrien had fallen to the back of the crowd where they couldn't be overheard.

"So what are we going to do?" Adrien asked.

"Maybe we shouldn't do anything." Nino replied.

Adrien looked at his friend. Nino had barely said a word since Alya and Kim started telling their story, not even to defend himself. It was Adrien that defended Jade Turtle. He was a little upset with his classmates for not trusting Jade but at the same time he couldn't fault them for their reservations. For all they knew, Jade really was the bad guy here, trying to push another hero out of the spotlight so he could have it for himself. They had no reason to believe otherwise because they didn't know him. Or didn't _think_ they knew him. But Adrien did. He worked with Jade every day to save Paris from Hawkmoth and his akumas and he knew for a fact that he was a hero.

But... He couldn't really use his memories as a reference point since every time he tried to look back and see what he thought he knew in his head, the memory slipped away. _'They weren't even real to begin with'_ Alya had said. Adrien could admit that his memories weren't what he thought they were and that he really didn't know what was going on but if there was one thing he knew for certain it was that his best friend was a hero and someone he trusted with his life. As Kim and Alya had described before; the memories might be gone but the feelings are still there. He could feel that Nino could be trusted, and because of that he knew that he became Jade Turtle through someone else's wish.

The question now was 'Who would wish away a superhero?'

Adrien pushed that aside for later and returned to the conversation with his friend. "What are you talking about Nino, we have to do something. Alix's plan is good but we can't just let our classmates fight an akuma without our help."

"We will help them, Adrien. Just not as Chat or Jade. They said themselves they aren't gonna trust us anyway. We'll be better help to them as Adrien and Nino."

"They also said they don't know for certain what's going on. If we can find some way to prove to them you're not going to sabotage this fight they'll trust us."

"We don't have time for anything like that! We just need to protect our classmates and win this fight."

"See! That's exactly how a hero thinks, Nino. You just need to show them the hero you are."

"But I'm not a hero, Adrien! I've been thinking back, like Alya said. And, Adrien I can't remember! I don't remember becoming Jade Turtle, our first fight against Stoneheart, I even forgot Wayzz's name for a moment!"

"Just because those memories aren't real doesn't mean you're not a hero. Look, you had to have become Jade Turtle somehow because we both know you didn't wish Ladybug gone so you could take her place. My guess is that someone else wished Ladybug away and because of that we were one hero short. _You_ must have been chosen to fill that role. Those memories might not be real but you were still chosen, Nino. You're a hero."

"Adrien is right, Nino" Wayzz poked his head out of the book bag Nino had on his shoulder and Nino jumped for a second. He knew somewhere in his head that Wayzz was a kwami and helped him turn into Jade Turtle, but it was still a little alarming to have him there. He supposed that if all these memories were fake than he would never have known what a kwami was because he wasn't really Jade Turtle so he'd never met one before. He jumped every time Wayzz spoke because he also knew that it wasn't normal to have a small turtle creature that could talk in his bag. "The wish must have been to remove Ladybug from the picture and had nothing to do with you. You were chosen simply because you were the right fit to be a hero. Kwamis are able to see potential holders for our specific Miraculous and I can tell you are a turtle, Nino. You are a hero."

Nino was silent for the next few moments. He'd felt out of place for the past two days, starting with when Wayzz woke him up Monday morning. He acted as if it was normal routine for his kwami to wake him up because he felt in some way that it was, but in the back of his head he knew something was different.

"I don't know, Adrien. We don't know what's going on either. Let's just..." He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. "Let's stay as us for now, but if things get hairy we'll transform, okay?"

"Okay." Adrien still wasn't happy with leaving his classmates in danger but Nino was right. They wouldn't trust them until they knew the whole story and they'd stick around anyway to make sure the job got done. Adrien considered telling them that Nino was Jade, they knew Nino so they should trust him if they knew, right? And everything would go back to normal after this so it wouldn't really be damaging to his secret identity since he wouldn't have one once Ladybug was back.

Adrien frowned. If Nino really wasn't supposed to be his partner then once everything went back to normal his partner would be Ladybug, not Jade Turtle. Adrien wasn't sure how he felt about having a partner he didn't know replace his best friend. Then again, after everything they'd learned today, he guessed it was really _Nino_ who did the replacing and he actually knew Ladybug already, he just didn't remember her.

Then fear struck Adrien. What if, once this was all over, they didn't remember Jade Turtle. He hoped that as Miraculous wielders they would remember, but he knew that wouldn't be the case since neither of them knew about Ladybug. So, what if he and Nino forgot he was Jade Turtle? Nino may not have been originally intended for the role but he still made a fantastic wielder and Adrien knew he was meant to be a hero. But if they forgot this whole thing... Adrien didn't want that. He had no idea what was going to happen to his best friend, but he could only hope he didn't forget everything. If only so he could somehow find a way for him to be Jade Turtle again.

But if that were to happen then he couldn't tell everyone that Nino was Jade because he _would_ have a secret identity to keep.

Anyway, it was too risky. There was a chance that they would second guess their memories of Nino and be distrustful of him too. Plus, then they might find out he was Chat. He knew Nino wouldn't want to feel responsible for that.

It was best to wait it out until they knew for certain what was going on. They'd just stick to the plan they had and hope that nothing would go wrong.

* * *

Caline wryly noted that this was the most productive she'd ever seen her students.

The school was a mess of activity. Everyone had their own job to do and once they had completed it, they moved on with no complaints of extra work _or_ attempts to get out of it.

As the teacher examined the lines of potato guns, tennis ball machines, paint bombs, sports equipment and art supplies in front of her, she knew there was a good chance she could lose her job for this. But she found it was almost worth it to see her students work together like this.

She watched Max teach Mylene how to properly tie the rope for the pulley system, and Rose and Nathaniel help Kim and Alix make different coloured paint bombs (because they wanted to make it a competition to see who had the best shots). Even Chloe was helping Ivan pick the most strategic spots for the tennis ball machines. Caline was struck by how well the class seemed to work together and wondered why she couldn't see this sort of work ethic in their school work.

She shook her head with a chuckle. She knew the answer to that. Schoolwork was no where _near_ as exciting as fighting off a dangerous wish granting genie fuelled with the dark magic of a supervillain that had been terrorising their city for months so they could get back a classmate they had lost, but didn't remember. Caline wondered when that had become normal. When she became a teacher she never would have thought she'd be helping her students set up a battleground in the school in preparation of taking down a supervillain because their own superheroes couldn't be trusted.

Superheroes. Supervillains. Magic.

A year ago this was all the stuff of fiction, now it's their everyday lives.

Caline took another look at her students as she helped Alya lift a bucket of water up onto the railing using the pulley system Max and Mylene had made. Their determination, ingenuity, and teamwork shone from them in a way it never had.

And she was proud of them for it.

* * *

Alix was quite happy with how things were coming along. She knew it was a long shot to think they could stand a chance against an akuma but she was feeling pretty confident. Everything was coming into place and every angle was covered. There was no way this akuma could surprise them with _anything_.

Or so she thought.

"Alix! Alix, you gotta see this!" Sabrina shouted down the stairs.

As the one who had the idea and had taken charge, Alix had sort of become their leader (next to Kim who had all the knowledge and wasn't going to let Alix outshine him in anything). She assigned everyone a role and had given the task of lookout to Sabrina. She had been stationed on the roof to alert them if she saw any sign of Genie.

Alix stood up and began running towards Sabrina. "Keep working everyone and be prepared!" She called over her shoulder.

Sabrina wasn't a very fast runner, so she had taken off as soon as she'd gotten Alix's attention. Both girls reached the roof at the same time and rushed to the edge.

What Alix saw made her heart stop for a moment.

"Who would wish for _snow monsters_!?"

Sabrina, winded as she was, could only shake her head. "Th... They're comi... Coming this... Way."

Alix stared in horror as she realised Sabrina was right. And as they got closer, the girls could make out the shining glint of sharp ice weapons.

Alix gulped and turned to the girl next to her, "Y-You don't suppose Ms Bustier would let us make a flame thrower, do you?"

The bespectacled girl was quivering in fear. "I d-don't think th-that would do any g-g-good."

Alix took in the size of the towering beasts. "You're probably right." She breathed.

She grabbed hold of Sabrina's arm and began dragging her back towards the courtyard. "Come on. We need to tell the others."

Alix looked over her shoulder one last time to look at the snow monsters. She hoped what they had would be enough to win this.


	9. Chapter 8

When Sabrina and Alix returned and told them about the army of giant snow monsters heading their way, Nino felt like he would be sick. He _hated_ the idea of putting innocent people, his _classmates_ , in danger. He wanted so bad to protect them but he knew if he tried to be the hero, he would just be a nuisance because they'd have to keep an eye on _him_ too. Nino swallowed the bile down and focused on the task at hand. Jade Turtle or Nino, he _would_ protect these people.

"Battle stations!" Alix cried as the sound of the approaching army reached them.

Nino went to his designated tennis ball machine and did the final check-ups to make sure it was working and he had plenty of ammunition. Right before the doors opened he caught Adrien's eyes from across the courtyard. His best friend was just as uncomfortable with the situation, but Nino took comfort in the fact that he still had his partner by his side.

The doors went flying across the room and landed with a bang. Nino didn't breathe until he was certain that no one had been in that spot. When the air filled with inhuman roars, Nino drew his attention back to the fight at hand.

If anyone got hurt in this, he would _never_ forgive himself.

* * *

The sound was deafening.

Between the roars of the snow monsters, the battle cries of the humans, and the constant launching of food, sports balls and basically anything that could be used as a weapon, it was a feat to hear your own breathing. Another sound joined the fray, so small it was missed by all but one.

A head turned to the source of the sound, wondering who could be laughing so joyfully at a time like this. Fingers clenched around the handle of the potato gun that had just fired a lump of unrecognisable food into the head of one of the snow monsters.

Anger began to cloud the mind as the akuma that had caused all of this cackled away at the sight of the warring sides.

Without thinking, the gun dropped. It would take too long to reload anyway.

The lone figure went unnoticed in the chaos. Not even Genie noticed. Amongst the noise the sound of running footsteps went unnoticed.

The anger was still there, but there was enough clarity in the mind to recognise the goal. Find the akumatised object, and break it. Then everything would be fixed.

It took only a moment before analytical eyes found the bow. With the objective in sight, the real fight began.

* * *

Nino quickly reached for more tennis balls when his machine had emptied. The flying projectiles didn't seem to be doing too much damage unless it was concentrated to one spot. Only the water and paint bombs seemed to really be doing any good as they was melting the monsters. Noticing this, Alix had already called for a few people to get more buckets of water.

While his hands reloaded the machine, Nino looked around to check on everyone. He was relieved to see everyone still safe behind their barricades and firing all they had at the monsters. He cracked a smile at Mylene and Rose throwing paint bombs at the giant snowmen. Out of all of them, those two were the least likely to be in any sort of confrontation, so he found it amusing to watch them.

His smile faded when he noticed an empty spot where there shouldn't have been one. He was especially worried since that was where _Alya_ should have been. Nino quickly ran through the names of people Alix had sent to get more water. She wasn't one of them. He looked around to see if she'd moved to a better position, but a quick scan showed nothing. When he looked back at the spot, hoping she'd just ducked out of sight for a second, he saw something that made his heart stutter.

The potato gun she had been holding was left, abandoned, on the floor.

Really panicking now, he called out. "Has anyone seen Alya!?"

A few people who heard him turned to look at the spot she was stationed at.

Rose, who was closest to the spot, went to have a look.

After a moment she came back into sight. "She's not here!" She called, fear in her voice. "Only her potato gun!"

"Did she go with the people getting more water!" Adrien shouted.

"Someone go check!" Alix shouted back.

"I will!" Once again, the students were shocked to hear Chloe Bourgeois willing to help. She really was turning over a new leaf.

"Be careful!" Several people called after her retreating form.

Nino finished reloading the tennis ball machine and resumed his attack, but he continued to keep an eye out for Alya.

Wayzz had hid himself in Nino's neck, on the side facing the wall, and was now giving Nino a comforting pat. "She'll be fine." He said. But Nino wouldn't be satisfied until he saw that with his own eyes.

If she stayed missing for much longer he knew Jade Turtle would make an appearance, whether his classmates trusted him or not.

* * *

Chloe's mind was racing with all the possible places Alya might go. She hadn't been with the water group so she decided to check the rest of the school for her. There were just two problems with this.

One: She didn't know the girl well enough to _know_ which places she might go.

And two: If Alya was missing at a time like this, then it wouldn't be of her own will, so she wouldn't even _be_ at the places she might go to.

Still, she checked every room and every corner, hoping to catch a glimpse of the missing blogger.

"Come on, come on. I'm supposed to help bring back your best friend, you've gotta be here to thank me." It was a bit of her usual pretentious nature, but in a stressful time like this, it was only natural for Chloe to fall back on something familiar, even if she didn't really mean it. Chloe had already caused enough damage as it was. The whole fight going on out there between her classmates and the snow monsters was all her fault. Because she'd wished away the superhero that could save them, the one they trusted. If anything went wrong in this battle it would be on her head. Alya's disappearance included.

"Alya! Alya, come on, where are you! Alya!" Chloe was starting to become hysterical. "Come on! It's already my fault Marinette's gone, I can't let someone else go missing because of me! Alya!"

* * *

Master Fu had decided that the best course of action would be to watch and see what he could do. As an old man there wasn't much, but he had already decided to keep an eye on the situation. And since the situation seemed to be unfolding at Francois Dupont High School, he decided to break into the school.

The old man was impressed to see the students fighting back against the giant snowmen, he decided to look closer at this class to see if there were any more potential Miraculous wielders. He'd already been scoping out a few, but he hadn't looked at everyone.

Master Fu scanned the faces of the teens and noticed the two he'd chosen to be Chat Noir and Jade Turtle. He supposed that the two from the park had informed their classmates of their distrust of Jade and the boys had chosen not to transform. He could see they weren't satisfied with the situation, but Master Fu concluded it was the best course of action for them to have taken.

Knowing that the situation was under control here and that a student had gone missing, he decided to travel the halls. It was barely a minute later that he heard the sound of frantic footsteps and slamming doors. He hid himself around the corner and listened to the girl calling for the missing student.

He remembered this girl. She was the mayor's daughter and a very snobbish person. He recalled that she had been responsible for several akumas in the past through her bullying and belittling and proven to be quite self-centred, not caring at all about other people or their feelings.

...But that was not the girl he was seeing now.

Chloe looked close to tears as she franticly looked through every room, growing hysterical when each one was empty.

"I'm supposed to help bring back your best friend, you've gotta be here to thank me." Master Fu smiled. Even though there was still some of that snobbishness there, he could see a change in the girl. There was something unfolding inside of her that made him look down at the box he held in his hand. He'd brought it just in case, but it might be useful...

He stepped back into the shadows a bit more and opened it. Shielding the pinky-red glow with his body, he watched Tikki form then put a finger to his lips before she could say anything. "I think I'll let you have a say." He pointed his thumb behind him where the desperate girl was getting closer to them. "This fight needs a Ladybug." He whispered to the kwami. Understanding, Tikki peeked around the corner. She knew the girl from Master Fu's descriptions, but she also had some barely there memories that she couldn't quite reach. From what she knew she was a little hesitant, but watching the girl gave Tikki pause.

"Alya! Alya, come on, where are you! Alya!"

The tears in her eyes were genuine, something that Tikki knew, even without full access to her memories of the girl, was something she'd never seen. The fear Chloe held was beginning to make Tikki's decision for her. She wanted to help this girl as desperately as Chloe wanted to find Alya.

"Come on! It's already my fault Marinette's gone, I can't let someone else go missing because of me!" Tikki froze.

 _This_ was the girl who wished her wielder was never born. It seemed to fit the personality she remembered. The kwami was unsure if she wanted the girl who wished away Marinette to take her place, even if it was just one time, but the full reality of the words sunk in. Chloe felt _guilty_. And that was also something she'd never seen of the girl. Not only did she understand her wrongdoings, but she'd learned from them, and was trying not to let the same thing happen.

Tikki straightened. If Chloe wanted to right her wrongs then Tikki would help her to achieve that. For Chloe _and_ for Marinette. Chloe wasn't a Ladybug, that much was clear. But she would be good for the task at hand.

Reaching out, she took the box from her Master's hands and, with a nod, she flew towards Chloe.

Master Fu watched Tikki fly towards to girl and felt his smile widen. If Chloe was willing to change he knew this would be good for her. He couldn't wait to see how this girl performed.

* * *

Chloe had just opened the door to another classroom when she heard the call of her name. Hoping it to be Alya, she spun around... But found no one.

"Over here." The voice, which she now realised to be too high to be Alya's, called again. Chloe turned to her right and saw...

"A giant bug!" She screeched and backed up, tripping on the corner of the door and landing flat on her rump. She heard giggling from the creature and froze. Bugs don't giggle!

"I suppose I am." Chloe's eyes bulged. It talks! "Hello Chloe, my name is Tikki. I'm the ladybug kwami."

"L-ladybug." Chloe watched the flying bug, _Tikki_ , float down to her eye level slowly. She'd seen this creature somewhere before.

"That's right. With the help of these earrings, I help turn people into the hero Ladybug."

Chloe suddenly realised why this _kwami_ looked so familiar.

"Marinette." She whispered, feeling ready to cry. This was yet another person who she'd taken Marinette from.

Tikki's face became shocked. "You know."

Chloe had to avert her eyes from the blue ones in front of her. "I... I figured it out shortly after I realised Ladybug was missing too. It just made sense." She looked up at the kwami, "I'm sorry." She wasn't used to apologising, but in this instance, she felt it was necessary, "I took Marinette away from you, I wished her away and now she's gone." She forced the tears back so she could finish talking. "But I _will_ make things right. I _will_ bring her back. I swear it."

She was expecting Tikki to be mad at her, but the proud smile really threw her for a loop. "I know you will Chloe. That's why I'm here. I want to help you."

"Y-you do?" Chloe was really getting confused.

Tikki flew down and placed the box she was holding in Chloe's lap. "You want to help defeat this akuma, and bring Marinette back, right?"

Chloe nodded, "Yes. I do."

Tikki smiled wider, "Well... We'll need a Ladybug for that." And she gestured to the box.

Chloe looked down at the box and opened it. Inside she saw two ladybug spotted earrings. Chloe looked up at Tikki with absolute shock, "Y-you want me to..."

"Mmmhmm." The kwami grinned.

"I, I can't. These are Marinette's, I can't replace her."

"You won't be replacing her, Chloe. I fully intend for those earrings to go back to their rightful owner once this is all over. You'd just be filling in for her, until she gets back, and helping her get back."

Chloe still wasn't sure. Once upon a time, she would have been jumping at the chance to have a Miraculous, but now it just felt... Wrong. Like she was defiling Marinette's memory or something like that. Wasn't it bad enough that she had wished the girl out of existence? Now she was going to use her earrings and take her place just to right that wrong?

"If you truly want to make it up to Marinette, then bringing her back is a great way to start." Tikki's soft voice filled her ears. She was right. Marinette returning was the only way to make it up to the girl, it was the only way to set things right. And if they needed a Ladybug to do that then...

Chloe breathed through her nose. "Alright." She stood up and met Tikki's gaze levelly. "What do you need me to do?"

Pride and relief shone through Tikki's smile, "Just put the earrings on and say 'Spots on', then the transformation will happen. I won't be able to guide you through the fight, but I'm sure you've seen Marinette fight enough akumas to know what to do."

Chloe began putting in the earrings, "Find the akumatised object and break it. Then cleanse the akuma and use Miraculous Ladybug to set everything back to normal."

"And you know how to activate your special power?"

"Just say 'Lucky charm', although I don't think I'll be able to use it as well as Marinette does." Some of the things she'd seen Ladybug do to win the fight were just plain ridiculous. She had no idea how _anyone_ could know what to do to win a fight with a simple, random object.

"Lucky Charm grants the wielder absolute success. Once it's activated your Lucky Vision will guide you on what you need to do, you just need to figure out the rest."

"Lucky Vision?" Chloe had never heard of that.

"You'll see. Now are you ready?"

Chloe took a deep breath, "Okay. Spots On."

* * *

 **A Guest pointed out that in the Prologue I referred to their class as being their 'English' class when it's a French school. I contemplated whether or not I should change this since while it is a French school, this, and the version of the show** _**I**_ **watch, are in English so there's bound to be mentions like that. I decided to change it anyway since on the wiki it's referred to as 'French Literature', so thanks for pointing that out.**

 **Since I'm on this topic I just wanted to mention something that I put some thought into when I got back into updating after my year long absence. I'm not very happy with the quality of my earlier chapters and I considered going back over them and rewriting them, but the reasons I didn't are because I don't really want to change the story in any way and because I like having the evidence of my progress in writing up there. I feel I have gotten a little better over time and I hope I do get even better. That's why I only changed that term and left the rest.**

 **That being said, if anyone else notices any big mistakes or things you don't understand because I haven't clarified it well enough in any of what I have written, please tell me because I might not notice it and I really want people to be able to enjoy my fics without any annoying mistakes ruining it for them.**


	10. Chapter 9

Alya cursed when Nino brought attention to the fact that she wasn't at her post. She knew he meant well and only did it because he was worried about her safety, but it made Genie aware that someone had gone missing. Now the akuma was looking around and Alya had lost her opening.

She knew where the akuma was hidden. All she had to do was break the object and find some way to capture the butterfly. She didn't know how but at this point she'd be fine with just holding it in her hands until they were able to get to Ladybug. Anything to get this akuma to stop.

But first she had to get to that bow. And she seemed to have lost the element of surprise.

Deciding to go for it, Alya launched at the akuma. The force of the impact was enough to knock them both over and despite the enraged shriek Genie gave no one seemed to notice what was going on. Alya vaguely recognised this as bad because if she needed help no one would be able to know she needed it. Instead of worrying about that, she took hold of the bow as the akuma was trapped beneath her. She'd reacted a second too late it seemed as Genie threw her off.

Alya was not going to go down that easily and the two girls ended up rolling down the stairs and landing in a painful heap. Nathaniel, being close to that side of the stairs, was the only one who noticed them and called out to Ivan who was closest to him.

"I found Alya! Tell Alix she's fighting Genie and needs help!" Nathaniel himself seemed too scared to offer that help but Ivan passed the message down the ranks until all of their squad was aware that Alya was facing off against the akuma by herself.

Some people, who still thought they didn't know Alya all that well, were only mildly surprised when they found they weren't surprised the blogger would do such a dangerous thing. In fact, an exasperated: _'Oh, Alya.'_ was a thought that many people shared through the worry.

Upon hearing the news, Nino immediately turned to where the information was coming from and saw Alya wrestling with Genie. He didn't even think. He ran towards the nearest hiding spot and turned to Wayzz. He only stopped when he realised he didn't know how to activate the transformation.

Wayzz, seeing this, gave his wielder a comforting smile and offered him some help. "Transform me."

Nino nodded silently. "Right..." Maybe this was a bad idea. It wasn't just because his classmates didn't trust him that he probably shouldn't transform, it was because he'd never done it before. He didn't know how to fight, what to do or even what he could do. Chat had Cataclysm and he knew Ladybug had something too, a charm or something, but what did _he_ have? What were his powers, how was he supposed to fight, what was his weapon? He didn't know any of this. Nino shook his head. He could do this. For Alya, he could do this.

"Wayzz, transform me."

Adrien saw his best friend run off and wondered what would cause him to do that. Maybe he went to go looking for Alya himself? But then he heard Juleka call out from her position near him where she'd returned from the water run.

"Alya's fighting Genie by the stairs! Pass it on!"

Adrien stopped shooting.

Alya was fighting an akuma.

By herself.

He immediately knew what Nino was doing.

 _'Well I suppose this calls for it.'_ He thought to himself. He wasted only enough time to call out to whoever was closest to him and then he was gone.

Alya groaned as she hit that ground with the weight of the akuma crushing her. Genie tried to stand once they had landed, but Alya refused to let her go. She reached out and grabbed onto the gold chain that connected to the bow. Genie lurched back to get out of her grip and the chain snapped, the recoil causing Genie to fall back with a yelp of surprise and land on her rear end. Alya wasted no time in pouncing back on the girl. The akumatised bow was now crooked and she knew she was so close to winning, but then Genie's eyes flashed a brighter gold and suddenly Alya was _freezing_.

She shivered violently as she was torn off the akuma and lifted into the air. The snow had begun to melt just slightly around her body heat and it was soaking her clothes to her skin. As she was brought up to the snow monster's eye level, Alya began to think that maybe jumping the akuma wasn't the brightest idea.

Before the monster could do anything, a sharp jet of water blasted an indent into its hand. "Let go of her!" Alya turned to see Max as he shot another stream of water from his modified potato gun and felt herself slip as the hand that held her hostage began to melt.

"Faster, come on! Hold it tight!" The blogger turned yet again to see Alix rallying a group of their classmates just below where she was being held with a blanket held taut between them. The rest concentrated all their fire on the most nearby snow monsters to cover them.

Max fired one more shot at the monster's hand that had kept moving around to avoid the attack and as Alya kept wriggling she was able to slip through the melted snow. The problem was that during all the monster's movements the people with the makeshift net had to run around to make sure they were under her to catch her. And when she fell through they knew they weren't going to be able to catch her in time. They were too far away.

They called out in fear and desperation as she came closer to the ground. But before either of them could reach, a green blur came out of nowhere.

Alya felt warm arms wrap around her shoulders and under her knees as she was pulled against an equally warm chest. Underneath her ear she could feel more than hear a constant beating that was faster than it should have been. Suddenly everything stopped moving and Alya gained the courage to open her eyes. But once she saw who had caught her the rest of the world stopped moving too. All sounds of the battle and her classmates cries for her fell silent, and it wasn't just because she was in an alcove. It was because she was in an alcove with the one person she did _not_ want to see in this fight.

Jade Turtle kept his hands wrapped around her shoulders as he inspected her for any damage. "Are you okay, Alya?"

His voice snapped her out of it and she pushed his hands away while taking a big step back from him. "I'm fine, Jade Turtle." She answered curtly and pretended not to notice the way he flinched. She knew Kim said it was possible Jade wasn't actually working with Genie but she didn't want to take that chance. If she trusted him again and it turned out he really was on the enemy's side... Well... She'd rather not have her heart broken twice.

Deciding she'd rather be away from him than keep an eye on him for any suspicious behaviour, Alya ran out to meet her worried classmates. She was immediately tackled by Rose in a hug that was way stronger than she expected from the petite girl. "Are you okay, Alya?

"Don't worry, Rose. I'm fine." Alya gave the girl a reassuring smile before turning to Alix. "Jade Turtle's here."

Alix nodded. "Figured that's who saved you. Chat Noir's here too." She pointed at the snow monsters where Chat Noir was using his baton to turn them all into powder. Jade Turtle came out from the alcove and joined in on the fight. Alya couldn't help but notice that while Chat was comfortable in his position and she felt reassured at his presence, Jade was clearly new at this. He was clumsy and unsure and looked very much like a new hero in his first fight. It was further proof that Jade wasn't the hero they all thought he was and this was, very likely, his first transformation.

Alya turned back to Alix. "The akuma's in her bow. I broke one of the chains connecting it to her suit but I wasn't able to get it." She started looking around for the akuma and found her back on her original perch near the top of the stairs. The pink outline over her face showed she was talking to Hawkmoth and following her line of sight, Alya could see she was watching Jade Turtle.

"Okay." Alix thought out loud, bringing the attention back to her, "Now we just need Ladybug."

"But how will we find her?" Rose asked.

Alya looked back towards the duo fighting off the snow monsters and then to Max who was still firing jets of water out of his makeshift water gun. "We'll ask someone who knows where she is." Without giving her classmates a chance to ask what she was planning, Alya stepped over to Max and tapped him on the shoulder. "Can you fire at Chat Noir, please?" She asked when she got his attention. At his confused look that was shared among the people behind her, Alya elaborated. "We need to find out where Ladybug is and Chat and Jade are the only ones who know. I'd like to knock Chat out of the field for a minute so I can ask him."

Max still wasn't sure about shooting a superhero but he did as asked. The water hit him dead in the centre of his chest and Alya couldn't help but admire Max's aim. He was pretty good. "Thanks." She said to him before she and Alix ran in the direction he landed.

They got there just as he was getting up. "Chat Noir!" Alya called so he wouldn't leave. The cat themed superhero turned to the two girls running up to him.

"Can I help you ladies?" He gave them an easy smile.

"Yes. We need you to tell us about Ladybug." Alya demanded.

Chat, remembering he shouldn't know anything about Ladybug, asked: "Ladybug?"

"The hero that's cleansing the akumas. We need to know where she is and why she's not fighting with you. Why is she in hiding and where did Jade Turtle come from?"

"Woah, hang on." Chat wasn't sure what to say. The things Chat Noir knew were very different from the things Adrien Agreste knew and if he wasn't careful here he could slip up and reveal his identity. Chat Noir wasn't supposed to know about Ladybug, but he needed them to trust Jade, so he gave them his theory. "Okay, first of all, there is no Ladybug and that's why Jade Turtle's here." He pointed at his partner.

Alya was about to explain all their theories concerning Jade and Genie when she caught onto his wording. "That's ' _why'_ he's here?" She asked.

Chat tried to remember everything he was supposed to know, but it was hard when none of it actually happened. He decided to be as honest as he could while still being clueless to their knowledge. It's not like they knew everything Chat Noir was supposed to anyway. "Look, I can't remember everything correctly and I'm willing to bet it's got something to with that akuma but from what I can recall there was supposed to be a Ladybug, but there wasn't for some reason, so someone else needed to fill the role of hero."

"And that was Jade?" Alya asked slowly. At Chat Noir's nod, she asked her next question. "So... There's no Ladybug?" This time he shook his head. "Then what about all the ladybugs that have been flying around and fixing everything!?"

The feline superhero took a step back at her outburst, which Alya would normally find amusing except she was too confused and frustrated to feel anything else. Every time she thought she knew what was going on something new had to pop up and remind her she didn't have all the details. And if there was one thing Alya hated, it was not having all the details.

Chat put his hands up as if he was trying to calm her down and spoke warily, scared of setting her off. He knew how feisty she could be. He wasn't entirely sure how, but he knew. "Look, all I know is that after every fight we put the akuma in a mason jar and our kwamis take it off somewhere and a few minutes later the ladybugs come and fix everything."

"Your... Kwamis?" Alix tilted her head.

"They're these little magical creatures that give us our powers." Chat explained.

"So they would know where Ladybug is then?" While Alya desperately wanted to learn more about these 'kwamis', she knew it was not the time and tried to focus on the problem at hand. But she would most definitely be asking questions once this whole thing was over.

"Didn't you hear what I said? There is no Ladybug, if there was don't you think she'd be fighting with us?"

"Well then who's been cleansing these akumas!? Its gotta be someone!"

"We don't know!"

"What does your kwami say!?"

"Plagg doesn't tell me anything." Chat crossed his arms with a huff of annoyance.

Jade crashed into a wall nearby with a scream.

"And _his_ kwami!?" Alya demanded.

"He says we don't need to know."

Chat then remembered something very important that he shouldn't know. "How do you know about Ladybug anyway? And... Why does that name sound familiar even though I've never heard it?" That last part wasn't really a lie. He'd never heard the name Ladybug before Kim and Alya mentioned it, but he was certain it was a name that was familiar to him. Every time he heard it, it made something strange go off in his chest. It was like some kind of admiration and fondness that made him feel warm and want to smile.

Alya frowned as she debated how much to tell him. He seemed to trust Jade and believe that he was here through no ill intent of his own, even when he'd admitted he couldn't remember things correctly. What he said about Jade filling the role because there was no Ladybug made sense. But if that were true then why wasn't someone else Ladybug? It was starting to look more and more like Jade really wasn't working with Genie, but Alya still wanted to be cautious. Chat trusted Jade, and she trusted Chat. She decided it would be a good idea to tell him what they knew about Ladybug.

"One of the people in our class seems to be immune to Genie's wishes, he can remember things that no one else can. He told us about Ladybug and that she's the only one who can cleanse the akuma and set things right again. And she's familiar to you because Genie couldn't completely erase her from our memories. She was your partner, Chat, before Jade, that's why we don't trust him."

Chat had already known all this, but this time he could speak up about it, "I trust Jade." Alya and Alix looked at him. "I can't remember a lot of things about him clearly, but I know I knew him before Genie came along." He decided to go Alya's route, "It's not so much the actual memories themselves, it's more like... A feeling, ya know? Like, I _feel_ like I can trust him."

Alya blinked. The feeling he was describing was a lot like how she felt when finding new memories she didn't know she had. It just _felt_ like they were her real memories.

"Yeah... I know."

Chat looked at her for a moment, unsure on what to say. Before he could make up his mind, Jade Turtle let out another cry. Chat looked towards his partner and saw him go flying towards the railing of the upper floor. The feline hero knew that that would hurt, even with the suit. He tried to make it towards his friend, but he knew he wouldn't make it. He cried out Jade's name, hoping the turtle could right himself before he landed painfully. But Jade was still a new hero and he was not as comfortable in his suit as Chat was, he knew the landing was inevitable.

What happened next, though, Chat couldn't describe. A familiar _fwip_ of an indestructible string, something he instinctually knew to be from a yoyo, came from near the stairs. A red and black spotted yoyo looped over a support beam and wrapped around Jade's waist, slowing his descent until he stopped. A feeling of relief, awe, excitement and warmth wrapped around his own chest, but also confusion and shock. That yoyo looked a lot like a ladybug, but that could only mean...

All the fighting stopped instantly at the sight of the new weapon as it lowered the turtle hero safely to the ground. Every pair of eyes in the room followed the string until it came across the person at the other end.

The suit this girl was wearing, as well as the weapon she held, clearly marked her as a ladybug hero, but Chat could tell that she wasn't _his_ Ladybug. He wasn't sure what it was that tipped him off first; the lack of familiarity when looking at her, the disappointment that welled in his chest for seemingly no reason at all, or the fact that this girl looked scared and unsure of herself, much like Jade did when they started fighting. It was clear as day that this hero was just as new as Jade Turtle.

This Ladybug had long blonde hair with black highlights reaching to just above her waist, a red mask with six black dots outlining the edges, a red and black spotted suit with a black neck coming down to a point and fingerless black gloves. She also had two black bands wrapped around her bodice; the top one had a sweetheart neckline and ended above her waist, and the second one was thinner, maybe 3 inches, and sat around her hipline. In the middle of these two bands was the regular red and black spots and she wore black boots with red heels that went half way up her calves.

All was silent for a few moments, no one knowing what to say, until Genie shouted orders to her snowman army. "GET THAT LADYBUG!"

The new hero froze at the sight of the approaching army, her retracted yoyo shaking uselessly in her hand. Jade Turtle swooped in and picked her up, taking her over the army and landing where Chat Noir still stood, gaping.

"Th-thank you." The girl said.

"I should be the one thanking you. You saved me first." Jade replied. He looked at her with confusion. "Um, are you Ladybug?" He didn't sound sure but he felt he needed to ask anyway.

"Um... Sort of? Not quite... I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that." She looked towards the floor so no one could see her eyes.

Jade was about to ask what they should call her when the snowmen roared and charged in their direction, having located them after their quick escape.

The three heroes jumped again to avoid the monsters and landed on the upper floor, out of their reach so they could continue their conversation and work out a plan. Chat had also grabbed Alya while Jade took Alix, so the girls wouldn't be harmed.

Kim, who had been standing under the stairs leading up to them, immediately raced up to the top.

"You're not Ladybug." Kim said as soon as he saw the new girl.

She shook her head. "No. I'm not. I'm just some random girl who wants to help."

"Well then, who are you?" Jade asked. "You said you didn't want us to call you Ladybug, so what do we call you?"

She bit her lip and looked over the railing at the snow monsters trying to reach them while she thought. "I'd rather not take a name." She finally said. "I don't want any of you to get used to me. I'm just a... A placeholder, until the _real_ Ladybug gets back."

Alya stepped forward and looked the girl in the eye, "Do _you_ know where she is?"

The girl returned her stare just as strong. "Yes."

"The why are you here?" Alya asked accusingly. "If you know where she is then why don't you just give her back her Miraculous, and let _her_ fight!?"

"Because she can't." The new hero said back, just as strongly. "She can't fight right now. I'm only filling in until she can."

"Why?" Kim asked. "What happened to her?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you."

"Why not!?" Alya exclaimed.

"Because I made a promise." She looked at Alya again. "I made a promise not to tell."

And no one could say anything to that. Only the sounds of the battle still going on beneath them filled the silence.

Finally, Chat Noir spoke, "Alright." Everyone looked at him, a little shocked that he would let this slide. "It doesn't matter who she is or why she's here as long as she can help us. It's time we put an end to this wishing business." He turned to the girl. " _Will_ you help us?"

She straightened her shoulders and looked to the feline hero with determination. "That's what I'm here for."

Chat grinned. "Then come one, Spots. What's the plan?"

The girl blinked in shock and looked at Chat Noir, "Spots?" She asked.

He tried for the innocent look and shrugged his shoulders, but the traces of a mischievous grin still played at the edges of his lips. "What? You didn't give us a name and we gotta call you something."

The newly named 'Spots' sighed and face palmed, while the others around her tried to contain their giggles.

"So do you have any ideas, Spots?" Chat continued.

Chloe ignored the nickname for the time being and tried to think of something. "I suppose I could try my Lucky Charm." She wasn't entirely sure of how that would work out though. A lot of Marinette's plans seemed so intricate and Chloe could never understand how she could form such detailed and successful plans with a single random item in such a short span of time.

"Alright." Chat nodded. "What's that?" He looked at her.

"It's my power. It summons a random item that should grant us absolute success, but I'm not sure how to use it. Tikki said my Lucky Vision would help, but I'm not sure what that is either."

Kim spoke up this time. "I've never heard of Lucky Vision. Is that one of Ladybug's powers?"

Spots nodded. "I've never heard of it either, but Tikki said it should help."

"Who's Tikki." Alya asked, ever curious. "Is it Ladybug?"

"No." Spots shook her head. "Tikki is the ladybug kwami." She tapped her earring for emphasis.

"Okay, maybe you should give this Lucky Charm a go." Jade said, he was leaning over the railing, watching the snow army. "The snowmen seemed to have figured out how to climb stairs."

The giant snowmen had thus far been unable to make it up the stairs due to their overly large feet on the small metal stairs. The snow just seemed to sink through the gaps, causing them to get stuck. But now they were climbing over their fallen comrades to make it up to the small group.

"A-alright." Spots took a deep breath. _'You can do this Chloe.'_ she told herself. _'Marinette's depending on it.'_ With that final thought, she threw her yoyo in the air with a cry of "Lucky Charm!"

A flash of pink light later and a matchbox fell into her hands. Those surrounding her looked in stupefied confusion at the item.

" _That's_ supposed to grant us absolute success?" Alya asked, disbelievingly.

Spots took a breath and looked around. Ladybug had never called out 'Lucky Vision' in any of her battles so she guessed this power was just a natural thing. She just needed to figure out what she needed.

Suddenly everything turned grey and she gasped as her eyes seemed to narrow in on certain objects that flashed with a ladybug pattern.

"Uhh... You alright, Spots?" Alix asked, seeing how she was flicking her eyes between random places.

"So _that's_ Lucky Vision." She said, almost to herself.

"What? What do you see?" Alya asked.

Spots frowned in concentration. A matchbox, the snowmen, the door leading into the main building of the school, the stairs over it, Chat's ring, all of the people and their weapons, and Genie.

She held the matchbox tighter in her hand and looked to the people in front of her with determination. "We're going to need to move this fight."

* * *

 **Ugh! Finally! Sorry for the delay, but I had a major assignment due, I needed a holiday from my holiday and exams are in a coupla weeks. Plus, as I was trying to post this, _everything_ , went wrong. It wouldn't copy, the text got all corrupted when I transferred it, just ugh! It's taken me half an hour just to post this and I'm ready for bed. It's midnight, I got school tomorrow... Today.**

 **But before I go, some good news. In my absence I was _finally_ able to find a moment to sit down and write (like I said, exams are coming soon, so it's like the calm before the storm right now) and I was able to _finish_ this story. That's right! Life Without Luck is complete. I just gotta go through and check, but after this there's two more chapters and we're done. So look forward to that.**

 **Bye! I'm going to sleep now.**


	11. Chapter 10

Everyone was a little sceptic of Spots' plan. It sounded needlessly complicated, far fetched and the success of it was riding on a spotted box of matches. Despite all the scepticism, however, Chat was feeling confident, like he was used to the crazy plans. Maybe even crazier. He knew, just like everyone else, that Spots wasn't the real Ladybug, but he had faith in the earrings' power, and in Spots. She wouldn't have been given those earrings if she couldn't help, and she sounded confident in her plan.

It was enough for him.

As Chat Noir jumped back into the fray with Jade Turtle, Kim was having similar thoughts. Another hero he didn't know was scaring him a little, but he needed to remember that he didn't know how the timeline had been changed. He didn't know what was going on. But it didn't really matter. As long as the akuma was taken care of and everything put back in the right place, it didn't matter who was fighting Genie and who wasn't.

Kim looked back to Jade, who was throwing his shield at the snow monsters Captain America style and chopping off their hands and feet; the thinner parts of their bodies. The turtle hadn't done anything to give the impression he had any bad intentions, and Kim really had no reason not to trust him other than he didn't know him. A valid excuse in any other context, but this was a superhero, and there was a time when he didn't know Ladybug and Chat Noir either.

It all came down to trust.

He would have to trust Jade Turtle. He would have to trust Spots. And they would have to trust him and the rest of his class.

It was the only way to win.

He met up with Alya back where they started after passing the message around to the other students and Ms Bustier. She had a tight frown on her face as she looked at Jade.

"We don't know, Alya." He reminded her.

She sighed, frustrated. "I know. But I want to be careful anyway."

Kim nodded. "Are we sure about this plan? Is it really going to work?" She asked him, looking at the fight. Spots had already left to get into position and the other two heroes were slowly, but surely pushing the army towards the door that led inside. Everything was almost in place.

Alya was answered with a chuckle. "Oh, trust me, Alya. You don't remember the half of it. Lucky Charm can give some pretty random things, but it always works. I think my favourite was the time Ladybug talked about how she defeated an akuma with a _spoon_." He laughed at the thought. "Man, I wish I could've seen that. The only reason we know about it is because of your interview."

"I got an interview with her!?" Alya was awestruck. Interviewing a superhero! That was a _dream_! She remembered telling Kim that Jade gave her interviews, but she couldn't actually remember them. Ever since she realised the memories were fake, it was getting harder and harder to pull them up.

"Yeah." His smile turned into something softer. "Marinette got you that."

Alya wasn't exactly surprised to hear that this girl could do something like that, but she had to ask…

"How!?"

As Kim told her the story that she'd told the class, the fight continued to make its way inside. With Chat, Jade and all the students pushing and luring them in, it didn't take long. By the time Genie got suspicious, it was already too late.

"Cataclysm!"

The stairs above the doorway crumbled and fell, blocking the entrance and separating Genie from her army.

"NO!" Genie cried.

Inside the building, the stand-in hero lit a match from her podium. The spark caught the attention of the snow monsters and Chloe, used to being the centre of attention, gave them her usual confident smirk… And lifted the flame to the smoke detector above her.

The sprinklers came to life, making water rain down on the army. The snow monsters tried to reach out to the spotted blonde, but she easily evaded all of them. With yoyo flying, the few monsters that escaped the brunt of the sprinklers were left without limbs and turned into powder as their prey escaped. Chloe marvelled at the way the weapon moved in a fight. It was lighter than her replica and flew so much smoother. The evil snow didn't stand a chance. By the time she reached the small window on the second floor, they were already half melted and wading through their liquid remains. With a final salute, she flung out to the top of the building.

Once out in the open air, Chloe slumped forward. It was an exhilarating feeling; fighting monsters, swinging around, moving in a way she wouldn't be able to do normally. It was quite addicting being a superhero.

A warning beep reminded her she had a mission. Walking to the end of the roof, she saw that the akuma had already been taken care of. Without her army, Genie was no match for her opponents. It was immensely gratifying for Chloe to see the akuma that had caused her so much grief wrapped up in a net and covered in paint splatters.

After one more deep breath, Chloe jumped down to meet the group. She paused when her classmates all parted to make a clear pathway to the akuma. As the mayor's daughter, she was used to this kind of attention, people clearing the way for her, so she could pass through unobstructed. But she couldn't ever remember a time when it was her class that did it. More than that... It felt... Different. She wasn't sure how, but... It made her stomach feel funny.

As the spotted hero walked past them, she saw that each of her classmates was looking at her with something they'd never looked at her with before.

Hope.

Chloe realised that she now held the power to end this akuma's reign. To stop all this fighting. To fix everything.

To bring back Marinette.

She always knew that this was something Ladybug was capable of. She looked up to her for that power. Admired her. But now...

 _'How does Marinette_ do _this?'_

For the first time ever, Chloe realised that Ladybug not only had the _power_ to fix everything, but the _responsibility_ to.

Everyone was looking at her with so much hope, knowing she could fix everything. _Expecting_ her to fix everything.

It was suffocating.

For the first time ever, Chloe wished that no one would look at her.

She'd always wanted her own Miraculous, to be a hero alongside Ladybug. But she wasn't expecting this... This _pressure_.

Despite all she said about people admiring her, she knew it was a lie. She knew the way people looked at her, but she always pretended that they were just jealous of her. She never let herself believe it was anything _but_ jealousy. She'd always wanted her classmates to look at her with admiration, but _hope_!? What was she supposed to do with that!?

Chloe mentally shook her head. It didn't matter what they thought of her. She wasn't doing this for them. She was doing it for _her_. Her own piece of mind. And maybe a little bit for Marinette. She was here to fix a mistake she unknowingly made and get rid of the akuma that started all of it and made her feel... She didn't know _what_ she was feeling! Confused, angry and upset for sure, but what was this feeling in her stomach when her classmates looked at her? What was she feeling when she looked back on how Marinette handled all this so _easily_!?

And _frustration_! Frustration for not knowing what she was feeling. She wanted to take this out on someone, and as much as she'd like to do so on Genie, the akuma had to go _now_ , before she got her strength back and before the earrings ran out. They were already giving their second to last beep and there wasn't much time left to cleanse the akuma.

Maybe she could take it out on Marinette when she got back. After all, a superhero like Ladybug should never have let herself be wished out of existence. Yeah, she could blame Marinette for this whole thing. But she immediately felt bad. She shouldn't be blaming all this on the girl that didn't exist anymore because of _her_ careless words.

For the first time ever, Chloe didn't want to blame anyone.

Not even herself, although she knew deep down that she should.

So, it was with these conflicting emotions swirling around in her head, that Chloe reached out, ripped the bow from the akuma and violently tore it in half.

No one said anything. Not when she pulled out her yoyo. Not when she finally caught the corrupted insect. Not when she brought the weapon back in and tapped it open. But as the little white butterfly floated back off into the sky, a few soft words broke the quiet and drew everyone's eyes back to the spotted hero.

"Bye, bye, little butterfly."

Spots had a single tear running down her cheek as the little insect flew off, but Kim only focused on her words. They sounded familiar to everyone, but without their memories they couldn't make the connection. But Kim did.

His eyes widened as he realised this girl remembered everything too. But how? The only other person who remembered was... He took a quick look around and realised that Chloe had never come back.

Kim turned wide eyes to Spots as she looked at the box of matches in her hand. Blonde hair, blue eyes, remembers Ladybug. This had to be Chloe. But why did she have the earrings? Did she know Ladybug? She knew why she wasn't here, did that mean...

No one noticed Kim's mouth drop to the floor as his second realisation in a row hit him, they were too focused on watching the matchbox sail through the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

A bright flash of pink and red later and the city was _swarming_ with ladybugs.

The class watched in awe as if they were seeing this for the first time all over again. And, in a way, they were.

The ladybugs first fixed the school and then began swirling around the people. The ground disappeared from beneath their feet and their worlds became a swirling mass of pink, red and black. Some people fought it, others stayed calm. In a few moments it all died down and their visions were clear once more.

The entire class looked around them in shock at where they ended up. They were back in the classroom! After a few silent moments of utter bewilderment, everyone began checking themselves and their surroundings. All evidence of the battle had been wiped clean, Chloe and Sabrina were sitting down the front and Alya was back in her seat, outside the windows there was no snow and the sun shone brightly in the sky.

"I remember." They all turned to Alya as she spoke. "I remember everything." She had her eyes closed as if she was focusing on all the memories she had lost and everyone else did the same. Sounds of excitement, disbelief and relief filled the room as they realised they all had their memories back. It was over.

But soon the excitement died down and, one by one, every head in the room turned to the seat beside Alya. The _empty_ seat.

"Then..." Adrien spoke up, "Where's Marinette?"

In the silence following that question, everyone just about screamed and fell off their chairs when the PA system squealed into life. _"Ms Bustier, could you report to the office please."_ The principal's voice rang out. There was a small crackle as it turned off and the room was consumed by that deafening silence once more. No one moved for a solid minute, not even daring to breathe as where, or _when_ they were, started to sink in.

A few more moments later, Ms Bustier cleared her throat, catching the attention of the entire class. "I... I guess this means we're back at the start."

"So then..." Alya spoke up, "Marinette's just late. Like usual. Right?" She turned to Kim when she said the last part, asking for confirmation he couldn't really give.

He shrugged, and tried to sound as calm and reasonable as possible. Which was very difficult considering how much his mind had been through in the past two minutes alone. "I guess so, I mean... Everything's fixed now." He was about to say, _'Thanks to Spots'_ , but he didn't want to draw any attention to the girl if it turned out he was right. He tried to look at Chloe, to catch a glimpse of her ears, but she was facing forward and her head was down. She wasn't looking at anyone.

In the next second, the door opened. Everyone went dead silent, looking as it slowly cracked open and revealed the person behind it. Marinette, in all her pigtailed, blue-eyed, pink glory, stepped into the room, silent and confused, and it was like seeing an angel enter their lives.

Tears were in all their eyes, and everyone was ready to pounce on the girl and hold her in the tightest hug imaginable. But everyone was shocked still when it was _Chloe Bourgeois_ who jumped forward first.

"I'm sorry!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around the petite girl. It was all she said, and probably all she was going to say. But it was more than enough. Chloe _never_ apologised for _anything_. The fact that she could do so now showed that she truly meant it.

Marinette, after regaining her composure, returned the hug, "It's alright, Chloe. I forgive you." This just made the blonde cry harder.

Ms Bustier came forward and wrapped her arms around both girls. Technically teachers weren't supposed to hug their students, but no one really minded. She was just as worried as the rest of them. Surprisingly, Adrien came next, then Alya bounded down the stairs. Soon the entire class was joined in a huge group hug, with tears and words of relief and happiness filling the atmosphere.

It was _over_.

They were _safe_.

 _Marinette_ was safe.

No one knew how long they stayed like that, but it was long enough for Principal Damocles to get impatient and call for Ms Bustier again. She reluctantly left to go to the office and left the children to their reunion. As the class began to fill in all that had happened since Marinette's absence, Kim took the chance to look at Chloe now that she was closer. She was fiddling with her ears and upon closer examination, Kim found the solid piece of evidence he needed to prove both theories that had come to him on the battlefield. Chloe was wearing a pair of earrings that looked like a simple dark circle. Nothing like what she would normally wear, but he easily recognised them as the earrings _Marinette_ always wore.

 _'That settles it.'_ He thought, _'Chloe was Spots, and Marinette is Ladybug.'_

But then a new worry settled in his chest. Chloe must know that Marinette is Ladybug, and now she has her earrings. Was she even going to give them back? He could see a look of indecision on her face and it made him both worried and hopeful. If she was considering keeping the earrings, then that meant she wasn't sure about it. He was going to wait and see whatever decision she would make. If she was still wearing the earrings by tomorrow, then... Then he'll do something. What, he wasn't sure. Maybe he'll just help Marinette get them back.

Marinette.

Marinette was Ladybug.

He wasn't surprised that didn't shock him in the slightest. It made perfect sense actually. Marinette was always brave and considerate. She cared for others and she was a great leader. He couldn't imagine anyone better to be Ladybug.

He looked back at her, as she was dealing with the death grip of her best friend, and listening to Alix brag about her leadership skills and how she managed to take down Genie with a paint filled water balloon. She listened; awed and impressed at her classmates' ingenuity.

Should he tell her that he knew?

How would she react?

Kim sighed and placed his head in his hands. This was too much. First, an akuma appears that has the ability to bend time and stops his classmate from being born. Then, their class had a whole battle royale to defeat the super powered villain while also dealing with half formed conspiracies on if they could trust the super powered heroes that were on their side. _Then_ , he finds out that one of his classmates was a fill in for a missing hero, and another of his classmates _was_ the missing hero who had been protecting Paris for months. Now, after everything was over, he was dealing with the aftermath. The possibility that one of the meanest girls in Paris could keep magic powers that weren't hers to have and whether or not he should reveal to his classmate that he knew she was a superhero.

It was too much to think about. He'd already decided to be damage control if Chloe decided to keep the earrings, but he was _not_ in the right frame of mind to be dealing with anything else right now. He decided to sleep on it, give himself some time to think. He'd figure out what he wanted to do tomorrow.

He looked up just as Marinette brushed some hair behind her ear and froze with her when she realised her earrings weren't where they should be. While Alya was busy laughing with Nino about her attack on Genie, Marinette brought her hands to her earlobes and paled further. Kim looked at Chloe to see what she would do and frowned as she frantically undid her ponytail and let her hair hang loose, covering her ears. He watched as Marinette looked in her bag (for what, he wasn't sure) and just took another deep breath. He understood that Chloe couldn't exactly hand the earrings over in front of everyone, but he just hoped she made the right decision.

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay. I thought I'd be able to get these out faster once it was finished, but I realised as I was proofreading that I left a lot of loose threads behind. I guess I was so excited to finish I rushed through it a bit. So, I've added some extra parts to it.**

 **One more chapter left!**


	12. Chapter 11

Chloe got into her limo feeling numb. She didn't quite remember saying goodbye to Sabrina, nor did she remember much of what happened at school after the whole Genie thing was sorted. Everything seemed like a jumbled mess in her head and she couldn't think about anything without getting confused. In fact, the only thing she could think of at that moment, was the weight of the earrings in her ears.

She knew she should have returned them, but there wasn't much opportunity to. Since coming back, Marinette had been constantly surrounded by her worried classmates, and that left no opportunity for Chloe to return her earrings and kwami. Chloe played with her loose hair, she wondered if she should put it up now that she was out of Marinette's sight, but decided not to.

The blonde bit her lip as she looked down at her purse. Tikki had been asleep for a while now, something about needing energy after powering her transformation and not having any cookies. Chloe watched the buildings fly by in a blur, thinking about her options. She hadn't returned them because she didn't have a chance to, but now that she had thought about it, she realised she didn't really want to face Marinette.

Facing her would mean talking to her, something she'd been avoiding since her apology. Chloe really was sorry, but saying it was hard. As a Bourgeois, she wasn't raised to be sorry for anything, apologising went against her nature and it felt _awkward_ doing it. So, she wasn't really in the mood to face Marinette, she didn't want to talk about what happened, she didn't even want to _think_ about it. She just wanted to forget it ever happened and move on with her life. Talking to Marinette would just make it real. Not just the whole wishing her out of existence thing, but the fact that she was Ladybug.

Chloe clenched her eyes shut as she thought about it. She'd given it a lot of thought when she first realised who Ladybug was, but it was still hard to accept. Ladybug was a hero. She _idolised_ her. Finding out that she was Marinette, baker's daughter, nothing special about her Marinette, felt like a punch to the gut. She wasn't ready to face that kind of reality.

So, her only option left was to return them indirectly. She could have them sent to her, or drop it off at the bakery and give it to her parents or something. But if she did that, then Marinette would know that she had her earrings. She would know that she used them and would probably want to talk to her about it. And Chloe didn't want to talk about it. Ever.

She had to find a way to return them to Marinette without her ever knowing it was Chloe who had used them. Perhaps, putting them in her locker the next morning would be the best course of action. Yeah, that would work. Now she just had to make sure Tikki didn't say a word to Marinette.

Chloe blinked as she realised she was in her room, sitting on her bed.

 _'How did I get here?'_ She thought, then shook her head. She must have been really out of it. Some sushi and a good night's rest was _definitely_ in order. Chloe peeked into her purse to see that Tikki was still asleep and asked room service to bring her up a platter of cookies as well.

* * *

Desi opened her eyes, confused of her whereabouts. She was outside, but she wasn't sure how she got there. And what was that smell? A quick glance in front of her revealed that she was standing in front of an open bin, the smell reaching out to her and sticking to her clothes. She had no idea why she was here, but she wrinkled her nose and reached out to close the lid...

But she froze at what was in her hand.

The button eyes of her favourite childhood teddy stared back at her. That's right. Her parents had thrown this out, and she'd come out here to look for it in the trash. She must have found it... But why didn't she remember?

With a bubbly laugh and the beginnings of tears in her eyes, Desi brought her teddy close and hugged it tight. Who cares. She was just happy to have her teddy back.

As the young teen walked back inside she decided to tell the truth to her new friends. So what if they thought it was childish, it was more childish to lie about herself just so people would like her. She wasn't going to make that mistake again.

But first, she had to talk to her parents about not throwing out things that don't belong to them.

* * *

Sabine and Tom had closed the bakery early. They were unable to concentrate with the strange memories in their heads. Memories of never having a child. They were vague with nothing solid, more of a thought really and could almost be written off as some sort of nightmare if it weren't for the fact that they both had them, and they got them halfway through the day.

Sabine could also recall Marinette's friend Kim stopping by and asking for her, only for her to say she didn't have a daughter. Why would she say that?

Both parents were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for their daughter to come home and hopefully answer some questions.

They heard the door open and a voice call out; "I'm home."

Before they could even think about it, they were rushing down the stairs and crushing their baby girl in their arms.

They couldn't understand why they felt as if they'd lost her, but they knew they weren't letting go of her for a long time.

* * *

Marinette climbed into her room with a sigh. Ever since she'd gotten home, her parents had refused to let her out of their sight and explaining everything to them had taken the better part of the afternoon. Their memories of the situation were a lot vaguer than her classmates, so they knew even less than she did before her class had told her everything.

The teen collapsed on her bed, wanting nothing more than to sleep away the day's craziness and forget about the fact that her earrings and Tikki were missing. But it seemed that was not to be as she was interrupted by a sharp knock.

"Who is it?" She groaned, too tired and drained to recognise that the knock came from the trapdoor above her and how not normal that was until a familiar voice called out to her.

"It's your favourite superhero."

Marinette opened her eyes, but still didn't move. Her favourite superhero?

"Chat?" She jumped up, unable to believe her ears. Sure enough, though, a pair of luminescent green eyes were peeking out at her from the glass of her trapdoor.

"Hi, Princess!" He waved, "Can I come in?"

Shocked by his sudden appearance, Marinette complied. She unlocked the latch and sat back as he jumped down.

"Sorry for the scare, Princess. I just wanted to check on you after today." He smiled sincerely at her, worry and relief evident in his eyes.

"… What?" Marinette asked, confused.

' _Why does he want to check up on me?'_ She wondered, then panicked, ' _Does he know who I am!?'_

"Well." He rubbed the back of his neck, "You didn't _exist_ for a while there. I don't know what that's like, but… I'm glad you're back."

Marinette blinked at his bright smile, still a little wary that he might know, but also confused as to why he was so worried about her. He wasn't that close to Marinette. He _had_ to know!

"W-why?" She tried not to let her fear show in her voice. There was a chance he _didn't_ know.

Chat looked at her with wide eyes, "Well… Because you being gone forever would be bad?" The way he said, like it was something that should be obvious and there shouldn't be a different answer, calmed her down. He wasn't worried because he thought she was Ladybug, he was worried because she was someone who was caught in an akuma attack.

She suddenly felt very ashamed. Assuming Chat would only be worried about Ladybug was terrible of her. She should have more faith in her Kitty.

"Right." She said awkwardly. "Sorry, that's obvious. I'm just a little out of it, and… I didn't think you'd drop by for a personal visit."

Here, Chat seemed to blush. It was hard to tell with the black mask covering half his face, but there seemed to be a bit of pink dusting the edges. "Yeah, I know we don't really know each other. That time with Evillustrator and again with Gamer are the only times we ever met, but that's more direct interaction I've had with any civilian, aside from reporters of course, soooo…." He was rubbing his neck again and staring out at her room, a little awkward. She tried not to giggle. "Yeah, I guess I just felt I should check on you personally. Make sure you're okay."

Marinette smiled widely at him, "I'm fine. Thank you, Chat Noir."

He returned the smile, "Anyway, I should get going. I have a patrol with Ladybug right about now and I have to see her too." He had stood and was opening the trapdoor as he said this, so he missed Marinette's flinch.

She stood to see him out but paused when he turned back to her. "And for the record, Marinette. The world wouldn't be the same without you in it."

Marinette gaped at him for a moment, then smiled. "Thank you, Chat. The world wouldn't be the same without you either."

The feline superhero gave his usual Cheshire grin. "Guess the world needs both of us then."

She giggled. "Bye, Kitty."

"Bye, Princess!" He left with his usual flashy over-the-top exit and it kept Marinette's smile on her face for all of five seconds. Once she was left alone on her room again, she remembered where Chat was going… And who he wasn't going to see.

* * *

Marinette walked into school, early for once, feeling as if she would cry. She had been up all night, wondering what had happened to her earrings and worrying about Tikki. She knew from her classmates' stories that someone else had wielded the earrings for the fight with Genie (They weren't sure why and Marinette was so glad no one had managed to put two and two together) but she wasn't sure how they got them. What if she, Spots they called her, had been given the earrings to replace her while she... Didn't exist... And still had them? Was she going to keep them? Would she take care of Tikki? Did she know who she was?

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she missed the worried look Kim gave her and the pair of blue eyes that pretended not to be watching her as she walked to the girls' locker room.

Marinette had tried to give up the earrings once because she thought she wasn't good enough for them, good enough to be Ladybug. But what if this girl _was_ better than her. Alya had told her that she wasn't keen on keeping the earrings, hence why Chat had to nickname her Spots, but that was before the fight with Genie. Before she'd won. What if she had changed her mind? Marinette knew she did when she got that second chance with Stoneheart. Being a hero was amazing. She got to help people in a way she never could before, she could be an inspiration, she made people smile and feel safe, she could run and swing across building tops and she could be a whole new person. She loved being Ladybug, she knew it was amazing. So why would this new girl ever want to give it up now that she'd had a piece of what it felt like to be Ladybug?

The pig tailed girl sighed as she opened her locker. She supposed the best thing she could do now was wait, and hope that the next time she turned on the news or an akuma attacked, she wouldn't see someone else wearing her earrings.

All thoughts came to a halt at what she saw next, her arm, frozen in place from the movement of putting a book in her locker. Right in front of her, sitting innocently in the centre of the middle shelf, was a familiar octagonal box made of dark wood and complete with dark red inscriptions.

Could it be? Was this really what she thought it was?

Quick as a whip, Marinette shoved her book inside, grabbed the box and ran, not even stopping to make sure she had closed her locker properly. She was still early so there wasn't many people to block her way as she ran outside and to the side of the school. When she felt she was far enough away from the other students, Marinette practically collapsed against the brick wall, sliding down until she unceremoniously landed on her rear. The foliage around her would hide her from prying eyes and anyone who might see what was about to happen. She knew how bright that light could get.

After hesitating only a moment, feeling the box in her hand to make sure it was real, Marinette opened the lid and braced herself from the explosion of light she'd only seen twice before.

Pink filled her vision, even through her closed lids and the arm she held in front of her face. It died down and she turned to find a sight she was starting to think she wouldn't see again. Tikki opened her big blue eyes, a little dazed from the summoning, but her whole face lit up when they fell on the girl in front of her.

"Marinette!" The kwami cried, rushing forward to nuzzle her wielder's cheek with the widest grin she'd ever seen on a kwami.

Marinette immediately cupped the little red being close to her face, enjoying their little version of a hug. "Tikki, I was so worried! I thought I wasn't going to see you again. Oh, I've missed you _so_ much."

"I've missed you too, Marinette. I'm so glad you're back."

Marinette let the cuddle continue for a seconds longer before she pulled back, the little kwami still resting in her hands. "But what happened? Alya said someone else had the earrings. How did she get them? Why did she give them back?"

Tikki smiled with a shake of her head, "I'm sorry, Marinette, but I can't tell you everything. There are things you're not meant to know yet, and I promised Spots I wouldn't tell you about her. But I can tell you she returned the earrings because she knew they belonged to you."

Marinette paled. "So she knows then? She knows who I am?" It was one of her greatest fears; someone finding out who she was and thinking she wasn't good enough to be Ladybug, telling everyone and they'd all realise what a let down she was. Who would want clumsy unimportant Marinette to be the great hero Ladybug, who got everything right and saved the day?

"Marinette." Tikki caught her attention before she could start panicking. "You don't have to worry. She's not going to tell anyone. She had an opportunity to help, so she did and then she returned the Miraculous to you. There's no reason to be scared."

The human licked her lips, "A-and you can't tell me who she is?" Tikki shook her head, "Then... The next time you see her, o-or if you get a chance... Could you tell her thank you for me?" Thank you for protecting Paris while she was gone, thank you for bringing her back, thank you for not meeting her face to face because she didn't think she was ready for someone to know who she was yet.

Tikki smiled. "Of course I can."

* * *

Back inside the school, Kim sat in his seat fidgeting. He didn't know how today was going to go, but he was ready to be prepared for anything. He decided not to tell Marinette he knew she was Ladybug, at least for the time being. Yesterday was pretty hectic, and he had no idea how she was coping with it. Adding on the fact that someone knew her secret identity might just be a bit too much for the hero in hiding. And to be fair, she was probaly already getting that from knowing Spots knew who she was.

He looked at Chloe with a smile on his face. Her hair was still down, but he'd discretely checked earlier and he knew she was no longer wearing the earrings. He figured that's why Marinette had run off earlier after going to her locker. She must have found the earrings in her locker and there was that kwami thing the heroes were talking about, so she probably had a friend to catch up with. But he wanted to be sure, so he wouldn't rest comfortably until he saw that Marinette really had her earrings back. So now he was just waiting for her to walk in. Even though she had arrived early to school for once, she still hadn't come to class yet.

While he waited, he entertained himself with chatting to Alya about Jade Turtle. Now that everything was back in its place, the turtle themed hero had vanished. While she still held some scepticism about the guy, she hoped he would come back someday. She was also intrigued by the thought that there were more Miraculous out there, meaning a possibility of more heroes.

"If he really was a good guy, then I hope he comes back. Ladybug and Chat Noir need all the help they can get against Hawkmoth, and he deserves the chance at the very least."

"Plus, a new hero means more interviews for you to hunt down." Kim added, teasingly.

"Can I help it if I want my blog to have the finest content available." The blogger placed a hand over her heart and stuck her nose in the air in mock superiority.

Kim, and several others who had joined the converstaion, laughed.

"So how many Miraculous do you think there are?" Alix asked.

This made Alya wiggle in her seat in excitement. "I have no idea." She said cheerfully, "But that just means I _have_ to find out." The class laughed again, typical Alya. "We know there's a ladybug, a black cat and a turtle. Hawkmoth is most likely also a Miraculous wielder, but I'm not sure which one." She tapped her chin in thought. "His name is _Hawkmoth_ , which is two animals, but he uses _butterflies_ to do his bidding." She threw her hands in the air. "Why do supervillains have to be so confusing?"

"So that's four." Max hummed, "So why haven't we seen the turtle until now?"

The class thought about this. If there _were_ more heroes, or possibilty for more heroes, then why was Ladybug and Chat Noir the only ones fighting Hawkmoth. "Maybe it has to do with the numbers?" Nino suggested. "I mean, when Ladybug wasn't there, Jade filled in. It wasn't just Chat. Maybe there needs to be two?"

"Then why bring the ladybug Miraculous back in for the fight?" Alya asked.

"Their powers." Kim said simply. Everyone turned to him. "Think about it. Ladybug's the only one with the powers to cure the akumas and fix everything. Even when Ladybug wasn't fighting her powers were still being used. Because that's the best option of fighting against the current threat. Maybe other Miraculous aren't being used because they wouldn't be helpful in this situation. We don't even know what Jade's powers were. He never used them. Would they have been able to help?"

"That's... A pretty good hypothesis." Alya thought out loud. She then went back to trying to contain her excitement. "Oh, I can't _wait_ to ask them about this next time I get the chance."

"Can't wait to ask who what?" Everyone turned to see that Marinette had entered the room. She took her seat next to Alya and waited for an explanation.

While her best friend filled her in on their conversation, Kim sagged into his chair in relief.

 _'She's got them. Chloe gave them back.'_

Seeing those dark circles resting on Marinette's ears was like a weight lifting off his chest. He didn't realise how much he had been stressing about this.

He looked at Chloe. He'd have to thank her. Not just for returning the earrings, but for saving the day as Spots. He wasn't going to tell Marinette that he knew she was Ladybug, but he wanted to thank Chloe. She really went out of character doing what she did. She deserved thanks.

* * *

While Alya started giving Marinette all of her latest theories about the heroes of Paris, Nino turned to his best friend. During yesterday's lunch they'd talked about what they remembered. All of the fake memories had completely vanished, to the point that the majority of Paris had no idea about the akuma at all, not remembering or experiencing anything different. But Nino and Adrien still remembered the important parts.

Adrien was Chat Noir, and Nino was Jade Turtle.

Adrien was _ecstatic_ to know that his best friend still remembered him and that he no longer had to hide from him. Nino was just as happy to have no secrets between them, and they spent all of their lunch break discussing the parts of Adrien's life he was never able to talk about before.

He also talked about how he wanted his friend to be able to be Jade Turtle again (He didn't say wish. They doubted any of their classmates would feel comfortable using that word for a while.)

And now, as the rest of their class was discussing the very same thing, his friend was sending him a knowing look. Nino sighed. It would have been pretty cool to be Jade Turtle again, he didn't have much of an opportunity to fully explore it before (And the conversation going on behind him made him even more curious. Just what was his special power? He never got to figure it out), but it wasn't up to him anyway. And he'd explained as much to Adrien yesterday, who'd begrugingly accepted he was right.

He didn't now how Miraculous wielders were chosen, or where the turtle Miraculous was now. He had no say in this matter whatsoever. So unless he was somehow gifted with the bracelet again, he wasn't going to be Jade Turtle. He did wonder how Wayzz was doing though. It would have been nice to say goodbye.

Although for now, he'd have to deal with his friend silently telling him how the rest of the class wanted to see a return of the turtle hero as well.

* * *

Chloe slowly walked towards the front of the school, not really in a rush to go home for lunch. She didn't quite feel like she wanted to go home just yet. As she considered asking her driver to take her somewhere else for lunch, she played with her hair. A habit she'd quickly picked up now that she wore it loose. She didn't have to hide the earrings anymore, but when she had stood in front of the mirror that morning ready to tie it up like usual, she stopped. She still wasn't sure why, but she kind of felt like having it out. Odd, since she'd always wore it in her signature ponytail, but Tikki had also convinced her to try something new.

Thinking about Tikki made her think about Marinette, so she pushed it away. The kwami had kept her promise of not telling Marinette, so she was free to forget this whole thing ever happened.

As if hearing her plea for a distraction from her thoughts, she heard someone calling her name. Chloe turned to see Kim a few paces away. Curious as to what he wanted with her, she stopped and faced him.

"What do you want, Kim?" She hardly noticed the lack of malice in her voice, but Kim did and it made him smile. He hoped it meant she was turning over a new leaf.

"I just wanted to say thank you. What you did was amazing and I'm incredibly grateful _and_ proud." The absolute sincerity in his eyes was almost too much, even without the words. She'd never heard _anyone_ praise her like this. 'Grateful and proud', her father had said things like that to her before when she made a good appearance in front of the cameras, but it was never quite as meaningful as Kim had said it. She felt warm and happy, the words eliciting a smile from her without her realising it. It made her wonder what she did to deserve it.

"F-for what?"

Kim smiled, "I know you were Spots."

Her eyes widened and she immediately looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "I'm not going to tell anyone." Kim continued at her frantic look, "But I just wanted you to know how thankful I am." Chloe stared at him. "What you did really went against your character, and it can't have been easy to do all that. But you did, and you gave the earrings back when I was half expecting you to keep them. So I'm proud of you, Chloe. Real proud."

And Chloe... She just stared. She had no idea how to react to this kind of thing. She thought that no one would have figured it out, but if it had to be anyone she figured Kim would have. He was the only other person who remembered after all. But this was... It reminded her of how they all looked at her when she was walking up to Genie. She was being admired and thanked in a way she never had before. For the things she could do instead of what her status gave her. And here was Kim, looking at her with real gratitude and full of genuine pride at what she did.

She felt tears come to her eyes and a full blown smile break out on her face. "Th-thank you, Kim. I... I really needed that."

He returned the smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You deserved it, Chloe. You did good."

Chloe nodded, unable to find the words, and after one last encouraging nod, Kim left.

Chloe Bourgeious stood still, forgetting the world around her and ignoring the people who were looking at her wierdly. She looked up to the sky with tears of pure joy falling down her cheeks. She couldn't describe how she was feeling right now. The motions were all whirling around in her head until none of them made any sense, but she knew she was happy. She didn't know why, but Kim's words had sparked something in her chest, and she felt just as proud as he did.

 _'You did good.'_

She did good.

Chloe wiped the tears of her face and pulled out her phone. She felt like celebrating, but since no one could know why she figured she would have to be more subtle about it. And right now, lunch with her friend sounded _great_.

"Hey, Sabrina. What are you doing for lunch?"

* * *

Across the road from Francois Dupont High School, Master Fu watched the two students with interest. He had a feeling that Kim would figure out it was Chloe who had filled in for Ladybug, and he was incredibly grateful to him for whatever he said that made the blonde beam with pride and happiness. This was really good experience for her. He can see her growing and flourishing right before his eyes.

There was also Nino. In the previous timeline he'd given him his own Miraculous. He didn't remember doing it, but he knew he had. And he knew he hadn't regretted the choice. He was a rookie when he fought Genie, but Master Fu could see the potential there as well. Nino would make a fine turtle. It also helped that the boy reminded Fu so much of what he was like when he was younger.

Yes. If the time came, he was confident he had two potential Miraculous holders. He wasn't sure it was necessary at this point, but it was good to have a back up plan. Especially with the Peacock still missing.

And who knew. With how dangerous some of these akumas were getting, it would be a good idea to have more heroes on their side. He'd just wait and see.

* * *

 **And that's it! Finished! My first officially finished fanfic. I'm so happy! You know, I'm not even upset to see this go. I've been working on it for so long and I'm just so happy to have finally finished it. It gives me a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. Welp! Time to start on the next one. I've still gotta find out what I'm doing with 'Finding A Hero' and I really want to start with these ideas I've had for Danny Phantom fics as well.**

 **Now, I know I've left this open for a sequel but I honestly have no plans of writing one. I might sometime in the future, but there are no plans at this very moment. But if anyone has some ideas for where to go from here, I'm open to suggestions.**

 **That is all. Thank you to everyone who read this, favourited, followed, and left reviews. I am incredibly grateful for every single one of you. You are all Miraculous!**

 **Seeya!**

 **P.S. The name Desi means to desire or long for. It is also related to the name Desiree which is French in origin and means wish and desire. Desiree is the name of a genie ghost in Danny Phantom who was probably a subconscious influence of Genie. I watched a few episodes many years ago and started watching it in full a few chapters into this story and found the two characters to be very similar. It wasn't my original intention, but I'm happy with it all the same.**


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